Jade Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone
by Queen Serenity
Summary: Ok, now I know this has probably been done before, but this is my take on it... what if the Potter child had been a girl instead of a boy? A femharry / girl-who-lived story.
1. C1: The Girl Who Lived

**Title: Jade Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone**

**Fandom: Harry Potter**

**Stars: Usual cast, with Jade Potter instead of Harry Potter**

**Summary: What if the Potter child had been born a girl instead of a boy? My take on a 'Girl Who Lived' story. FemHarry.**

**Author: Queen Serenity**

**Disclaimer: Anyone you recognize doesn't belong to me. This version of Lisa Turpin is mine, as well as Jade Potter (even the idea of a girl Harry named 'Jade' is mine, as far as I'm concerned, as none of the other girl-who-lived stories featured a Jade Potter when I first posted this). Solluna is mine, as well as certain of her powers which are not exactly like the werecats in the Eragon series, which inspired her. Any other unfamiliar stuff is mine. MINE! Don't make me sic my parrot on you. I'll do it, I tell you! :)**

_**Title: Jade Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone**_

_**Author: Queen Serenity**_

_**Fandom: Harry Potter**_

_**Chapter: One – The Girl Who Lived**_

The Dursleys were normal… obsessively so, in fact. There was Mr. Vernon Dursley, who worked hard each day to provide for his family. There was little Dudley Dursley, as ornery and uncooperative as any of the worst babies could be, but perfect in his parents' eyes. And then there was Mrs. Petunia Dursley, who always seemed to know everything about everyone, and spent her time during the day cooking, cleaning, and doing her wifely duties, and we can't forget gossiping. She absolutely _loved _to gossip.

But there was something not commonly known about Mrs. Petunia Dursley. She had a younger sister, who was, like her, married. She also, like her, had a small child; a little baby, around Dudley's age. But that was where the similarities ended. Lily and James Potter were as unlike Petunia and Vernon as you could get. They were part of… _that _kind. The Wizarding kind. The two families had not even seen each other for years… Petunia preferred to pretend that she'd never even had a sister.

Yes, Petunia Dursley had a sister.

Or at least she had until the previous night.

The Dursleys didn't know it, but something big had happened in the wizarding community. Vernon did notice, however, the people in cloaks standing around, whispering to one another, although he didn't notice the owls swooping everywhere. He also noticed a strange cat lurking near his house all day, and he felt quite unnerved by now. But he shrugged it off. None of it could affect his family, right?

Wrong.

That evening, an old Wizard by the name of Albus Dumbledore met up with the cat, who transformed then into a witch called Professor Minerva McGonagall. They spoke, and it was revealed that a dark, powerful wizard, Voldemort, had killed Lily and James Potter, but had then been defeated… by a child?

They waited until Hagrid, a gentle half-giant, showed up on a flying motorcycle with the baby. And so the baby was left with a note upon the doorstep of the Dursleys.

The next morning, as Petunia put out the milk bottles, they dropped with a crash when she found the baby, and she let out a strangled gasp. She picked up the note and read it, and then looked down at the bundle, which had its face covered… she'd known that Lily had had a baby, but she'd never even seen it… now she knelt by it and uncovered the face to see what she should have long before.

A cherubic little face, framed by fine black hair, was unveiled. Even as a baby, it bore such resemblance to Lily, whom she now knew to be dead. She didn't even realize that unwelcome tears were filling her eyes until she saw the warm, salty drops plop down on the baby's forehead, landing on a curious-looking cut, shaped in what appeared to be a bolt of lightning, which dwelt there. The baby scrunched up its face in a cute yawn before gazing serenely at Petunia with its bright, beautiful jade-green eyes that were just like Lily's, looking to be waiting for something.

Years and years ago, until Lily had received the letter from 'that school', the two sisters had been reasonably close. After all, Lily had been her younger sister by two years. But then, Lily had never been there, and when she actually was home, she had changed so much that Petunia would have none of it. She wasn't her sister anymore! She was just… a freak! But now… now she realized that it _had _still been her little sister, and she felt guilt overwhelm her now that she was dead, and there was nothing to be done…

Except…

Except that she'd wished for a daughter anyway, and now… here was this baby girl, without a home or parents… needing her.

She could fix her mistake by raising her as she would her own child…

She would do her best to take care of all that remained of her sister…

Jade Lily Potter, the Girl Who Lived.

**QS: While I'm aware that the child being a girl wouldn't necessarily make this much of a difference, it does here. That's part of how my story can be a bit different than the books.**


	2. C2: The Beloved Niece

_**Title: Jade Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone**_

_**Author: Queen Serenity**_

_**Fandom: Harry Potter**_

_**Chapter: Two – The Beloved Niece**_

It had been about ten years since Petunia had found Jade on the steps, and the family was not even close to knowing how much of a blessing the child was to them. If Lily had been a boy, or had never even showed, Dudley would have remained spoiled, and grown even more so, and Vernon would have kept his harshness, and Petunia never would have realized how wrong she had been about her sister.

But she was there, and so everything was as wonderful as could be. The photos on the mantelpiece started out showing pictures of what looked like a beach ball wearing bonnets of all sorts, but, soon after, it showed a little girl, too, in many of the pictures with the beach ball. The little girl, too, was wearing bonnets. As the pictures changed throughout the years, showing the two children at Christmas, one of the later Christmases showed the kids each happily opening up a present containing a computer. The one for the girl was a laptop, though, unlike the boy's. The pictures showed that both of the kids were well-loved, Jade especially so by Petunia, and anyone looking at the pictures would have thought that the girl was a daughter that had just turned out with genes that skipped a generation, and that was perhaps why she looked different.

But one thing remained the same; the girl's startling green eyes. If you were to look closely, you would notice that, while they did look happy, they often seemed to be hiding a sort of… 'haunted' look.

Right now, Petunia went upstairs to Jade's room and tapped on the door. "Jade, dear, it's time to get up! You need to try and hurry to get ready… it's Duddy's birthday, remember? We've got a lot of fun planned today!"

The door opened and Jade stood there, already dressed. "I'm already ready, Aunt Petunia. Come on, you get the others up and I'll finish cooking the breakfast."

Aunt Petunia hurried off to wake the others, and Jade went downstairs to the kitchen to tend to the bacon. Seeing the presents almost covering the table, Jade rolled her eyes. Looked like Dudley had gotten the new computer he'd wanted (he always had to have the newest one), and also a bigger television, _and _a racing bike. Jade couldn't help but feel a bit excited about this last present… she knew that Dudley'd probably let her use it. In fact, she'd probably use it more than him. Dudley was a bit overweight, and he hated exercise unless he had to do it. She'd been trying for years to get him to come out walking with her and stuff, but to no avail. The main exercise he got was when the two of them wrestled, as youngsters often do. In that area, she was a tomboy, and was much tougher than she looked. That, and he got exercise also when he was chasing down Jade because she'd said something to tease him. The girl didn't look it, but she was very fast.

Jade was always out, wandering around (which would cause great worry often to Petunia and Vernon), so she was a bit tanned, which made her bright green eyes stand out all the more. She was small and a bit skinny for her age, though Petunia always made sure she ate enough. She was also slightly toned, though, because of the martial arts classes she'd been taking since she was eight, when she'd requested to be sent to them by her aunt and uncle. She had a sweet, nicely shaped face like Lily had had, but, unlike Lily, her hair was black instead of red, falling in ebony waves to her waist, though it always looked a little tousled, for some reason. You couldn't see them, but she wore contacts. Her favorite thing about her appearance, though, was the scar on her forehead, standing out against her tan, shaped a bit like a bolt of lightning. It always reminded her of the fact that, happy though she was here, she belonged somewhere else. The first question she'd ever asked of Aunt Petunia was where it had come from. A strange look had come over Petunia's face, and she had replied that she'd tell her when she was older.

And so she had. When Jade had reached the age of seven, Petunia had decided she was ready and sat her down, giving her the letter that had been with her when she'd been left with the Dursleys. And so she'd read it, and knew what had happened to her parents. And she knew that, one of these days, she would be called on to join her kind.

She looked up from turning the bacon as Uncle Vernon came into the kitchen. "Good morning, Uncle Vernon," she greeted. "I'll have breakfast ready in just a tick."

Vernon nodded, replying, "Good morning, Jade." Aunt Petunia and Dudley came in soon after, each greeting Jade, too.

Setting the food onto plates, Jade frowned slightly at the presents on the table. "Dud, could you move a couple of your presents, please? There needs to be a little room for breakfast. Unless, of course, you're not hungry?" Dudley, obviously hungry, hastened to comply, then Jade set everyone's plates down in the proper place then seated herself to eat.

As Jade ate, she poked her head around a stack of presents to look at Dudley. "Looks like ya got quite a haul of presents this year, _Diddykins_." She purposely exaggerated her use of one of Petunia's nicknames for Dudley to tease him. "I already counted them. You've got thirty-five presents."

Dudley's face fell at the number. "That's not as many as last year…" He sighed exaggeratedly, and it was clear he was just joking; he knew his parents always got him awesome gifts, more than most kids would, and he was happy with what he got. As long as he'd gotten all the big things he'd wanted.

Jade smiled mischievously, then spoke. "Well, if you're disappointed over the number, Dudley, I can always head to the bathroom. Give me a few minutes in there and I'll make you a few more presents. They'll be wrapped in nice soft white paper." She stuck out her tongue at Dudley so there'd be no doubt as to what she'd meant, then bolted from her chair, knowing what would be coming next. The sound like an elephant stomping through the house confirmed that Dudley was chasing her. She dashed through the door and they continued like that, running circles around the house, Jade purposely staying just beyond his reach, until Aunt Petunia came to call them back inside.

She pulled Jade aside. "Jade, Mrs. Figg called. She didn't know whether or not you were coming to visit her today while we were gone, but wanted you to know you can't. She's really sorry, but it seems she's broken her leg. Would you like to come with us instead?"

"Sure, Aunt Petunia." She made a mental note to go see later whether or not the elderly woman needed any help, what with her leg and all.

Usually, on Dudley's birthday, Jade was welcome to come with them wherever they were going, but she chose not to, for some of Dudley's friends were just not all that likable to her, and usually at least one came. Instead, she usually visited with an elderly woman whom lived nearby, Mrs. Figg, who never seemed to have any company but that of her cats. She felt sorry for the woman, and liked to cuddle with the cats, anyway.

She went over to where Dudley was unwrapping the last of his presents. "Hey, Duds, looks like I'm coming, too… poor old Figgy broke her leg. So, who'll be joining us today?"

Dudley answered, looking happy that she was actually coming for once; she hadn't told him that she didn't like his friends, and it probably wasn't that obvious, since she tried to be civil (usually) to them. "Piers is coming." He turned away from her when the doorbell rang, announcing his friend's arrival, and he didn't notice Jade make a face when he wasn't looking. _Ratface is coming? Oh, great… _One of the less likable things about Dudley was that he liked to fight. Sometimes Jade could get him to leave certain kids alone, but she couldn't protect everyone, and Piers was usually the one who'd hold whoever was lucky enough to be Dudley's current punching bag so that they couldn't hit back, and to kick the kids when they were down helpless on the ground.

A while later, they were all loaded into the car, Jade with one of the window seats. Ignoring the two boys talking to next to her, Jade gazed out of the window, a faraway look in her eyes as they traveled to the zoo for what would be Jade's first time, by her own choice. There was a reason that she didn't like going on the birthday trips of Dudley's, usually; she didn't like crowded places much. Sometimes, strange things happened around her, which she knew was probably a side effect of what she was, and she was afraid that one of these days she would accidentally do something that would hurt someone.

Jade wasn't very popular at school, being 'that eerie girl'. In fact, she was why Dudley got into fights a quarter of the time… he didn't like hearing people make fun of his cousin. Once, when she'd been dozing in class, she woke to find the teacher admonishing the girl behind her, a snob who'd maliciously cut away several chunks of her long beautiful hair as she'd dozed. The teacher'd been about to admonish Jade, too, for sleeping in class, but didn't have time as the girl ran tearfully from the room and also from the school. She'd run home, where she cried in Aunt Petunia's arms at the meanness of how some people could be.

That night, she fell to sleep dreading returning to school the next day and having to see that girl's gloating face and, as she slept, she had nightmares about it. In the middle of the night, however, she awoke with a peculiar tingling feeling running throughout her body, then fell back to sleep. The next morning she woke to a surprise: her hair was all back to its glorious self, not a single piece missing! And what's more, at school, the snobby girl's face wasn't among the staring faces as her classmates saw her hair. A few days later, the girl was back in class, wearing a wig and refusing to meet Jade's gaze; it seemed that the girl's hair had mysteriously fallen out the night after she'd cut Jade's hair, leaving her head bald as an egg in the morning.

And then, there was another time when Jade had been preparing to go down the slide, having just climbed up the slide's ladder. However, one of the other kids had nastily decided to surprise her and had climbed up the slide itself, surprising her when she got to the top by pushing her off the wrong side. The kid had obviously been hoping she'd at least break something, but, instead of falling, she'd sort of floated down, as though she were connected to a parachute, to land roughly on her feet.

By then, the kids were starting to just avoid her, but, on a day that Dudley was sick and not there to watch out for her, she'd been chased down by a gang of girls who'd been intent on beating her up, proving that she was just some ordinary kid, but, as she'd been looking for a place to hide, she'd jumped behind some trashcans only to find herself perched on the school's chimney. The headmistress had sent an angry letter home to the Dursleys for this, and Petunia, a worried look on her face, had told Jade that she would need to try to keep herself under control, lest they had to pull her out of school, which they would prefer not to.

Today, though, nothing would go wrong, she was sure of it. She wanted to be sure that Dudley had a nice birthday, as usual, and that she didn't do anything to mess it up.

Uncle Vernon griped to Aunt Petunia as he drove, one of his favorite habits. When motorcycles were brought up, Jade remembered a dream she'd had about a motorcycle. A flying one, to be precise… she wondered if it meant something.

When they got to the zoo, they proceeded to have a really good time, and Jade let go of her fear that something weird would happen. First thing they did was stop for ice cream and, while the boys got huge chocolate ice cream cones, she ordered herself a chocolate chip shake to sip from as they walked.

They walked around, looking at the assorted animals, including wolves, which were one of Jade's favorites (she loved how noble the predators looked), and a gorilla that Jade found to look like it could have been Dudley's long lost brother, though she never would've told him that.

They stopped in the zoo restaurant for lunch, where Jade ordered a grilled garlic chicken sandwich with lettuce and mayo.

Afterwards, they headed to the reptile house, where Dudley found a large boa constrictor, the largest snake in the place. It appeared to be asleep, though, and wasn't doing anything exciting. Dudley scrunched up his face, looking ready to throw a little tantrum, and started tapping on the glass to try and wake it, but Jade placed her hand on his fat wrist and gave him a sharp look. "Don't, Dud. I'm sure there're snakes around here willing to move on their own… I heard there's a King Cobra here, and they're pretty dangerous… why don't you go check it out?"

Dudley sort of pouted, but obligingly wandered over to where the King Cobra was, the others trailing behind him. Except for Jade… she stayed to watch the snake.

She pressed her forehead to the glass, relishing the cool touch of it to her skin, and gazed at the snake. She felt sorry for it, as she had the wolves… it, like them, was a noble and majestic predator, and yet it was forced to live out its life here, in this cage, until it died of old age, or neglect, or perhaps even boredom. All it could do was lay there all day, perhaps move around a little, and watch people it could never reach staring at it, thumping the glass, never allowing it peace except for when the zoo would mercifully shut down at night. It was a life she'd never want… she'd give anything to be able to help it…

Out of nowhere, the snake suddenly opened its eyes, and its tongue flicked the air. Slowly, but surely, it raised its head until it was on the same level as Jade's, staring into her eyes. And then…

It winked.

It winked at her! As though it were the most ordinary thing for it to do! Jade blinked disbelievingly, wondering if she'd been imagining things, then looked around to see if she was the only one who'd seen it. No one was near her so, unsure, she winked back at the snake.

The snake jerked its head towards Dudley and the others, then sort of rolled its eyes. It gave Jade a look that told her plainly: "I get that all the time."

"I know," Jade murmured through the glass. And she did know. At school, now, she was practically an exhibit to the other kids, a freak. Too dangerous to mess with so much, but sometimes 'poked' to see what would happen. "It must be really annoying. Frustrating, too, for someone as big as you to be cooped up here."

The snake seemed to have heard her thoughts as well as her words, and nodded vigorously.

"Where are you from?" Jade asked, curious.

The snake jabbed its tail at a sign by the exhibit, and she read that it was from Brazil. She was about to speak, but then noticed what it said on the rest of the sign… bred in captivity. She felt a rush of sympathy for the snake, feeling the wish to help it more than ever, and anger at the people who would keep it here. But there was nothing she could do…

"So you've never even been outside a cage, have you?"

As the snake shook its head, a shout sounded out from just behind Jade, making her jump. "EVERYONE! COME LOOK AT THIS SNAKE! YOU WON'T BELIEVE WHAT IT'S DOING!" The source of the shouting, Piers, shoved Jade roughly out of the way then. "Get out of the way, freak!" She landed hard on the cold concrete floor, winced, and glared at Piers as Dudley came waddling over. Next thing she knew, there was that strange rush of energy again, and then the glass that Piers and Dudley was now leaning against was gone!

The boys fell in, onto the boa constrictor, even as it was unwinding itself to leave the cage. As it slid past her, Jade could hear a sibilant, hissing voice from it. "Freedom and Brazil, here I come… Thanksss, mi amiga."

Later, after time with the zoo director, they were finally back in Uncle Vernon's car, Piers jabbering on and on about how he'd almost died, and how the snake had tried to crush him to death, etcetera. Dudley was just freaked, period. Finally, Piers calmed down enough and said it… "It was you, wasn't it, freak! You tried to sic it on me!"

The next Piers heard and saw before darkness was a fat fist heading towards his face and Dudley's voice snarling, "I told you not to bloody call her that!"

After they dropped the unconscious Piers off (saying he passed out from shock), and had got home, Uncle Vernon's face was purple. It was clear he was trying to keep from getting mad. His voice could barely come out, he was so angry. "Jade – go – room – please – talk later," he then collapsed in his chair, and Aunt Petunia ran to get him a brandy.

Dudley followed Jade upstairs, bugging her to explain to him what happened, but she said she'd talk to him tomorrow. She just wanted left alone with her guilt.

And guilt it was, she thought as she flopped down on her bed and buried her face in her pillow. Piers she didn't care so much about, he'd deserved a good scare, but both he and her cousin could have gotten severely hurt, even killed today! And it was all her fault!

She cried till the tears dried up then hiccupped once before falling asleep, resolving just before she did that she had to get stronger, to better control herself. She wasn't a freak, but she wasn't like the Dursleys or ordinary folk, either. She was just… Jade.

Later that night, Jade awoke, feeling drained. She just lay there, thinking.

It'd been almost ten years now that she'd lived with the Dursleys. Ten happy, but empty years. This just wasn't her place.

Even at school, she'd tried to bury herself before into her studying, but even that proved useless… as easy as the work came to her, it felt as though what she learned held no use for her; there was no challenge, no nothing!

She could remember nothing before the Dursleys… except…

Sometimes, if she tried really really hard, she saw a sort of strange vision: a flash of searing green light and then a burning pain on her forehead, where her scar was now. She figured that the green light was probably when her parents were killed, or perhaps when that evil wizard, Voldemort, made an attempt on her life. After all, that light couldn't be natural, she just knew it.

She had no photos of her father, but one of her mother. It was a very old, tattered picture of a young version of her mother and Petunia, their arms around each others' shoulders as they smiled for the camera. Petunia had said that this had been just before Lily had received her letter from Hogwarts.

In her earlier years, Jade has sometimes met strange strangers whom had seemed to know her, bowing to her, shaking her hand, etc. Now she knew that they must have been witches and wizards, but she didn't know why they made such a big deal over meeting her.

Although her family tried to be there for her, they just weren't what she needed. She loved them, but when it came right down to it, Jade felt utterly stranded and…

…alone…

**QS: You may hate me for making the Dursleys friendly with her. Really, you may. But I have my reason for this, and I'm telling you now, though, that while she loves them, she does not view her aunt and uncle as parents. K?**


	3. C3: Depression and Letters

_**Title: Jade Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone**_

_**Author: Queen Serenity**_

_**Fandom: Harry Potter**_

_**Chapter: Three – Depression and Letters**_

The escape of the Brazilian boa constrictor haunted Jade for quite a while, along with thoughts of how people could have been hurt, and how it would have been all her fault…

In fact, she refused to go to school anymore, or go to her martial arts classes, or leave the house period. Aunt Petunia hadn't been able to talk Jade into coming out of her room, except to use the loo, no matter how hard she'd tried, so she continually called in sick for Jade, her worry increasing each day, until school had finished up three weeks later. For you see, Jade had fallen into a deep depression, and didn't even want to get out of bed anymore; there just seemed to be no point to anything. She barely touched food that Aunt Petunia brought into her room, her face drawn with worry, and had started to gradually drop weight.

Each day, each of the family members came in in turn and just talked to Jade, telling her that it was okay, that it wasn't her fault, etc. Anything to get that depressed, empty look off of her face.

Finally, after a month had passed in total, just when Vernon and Petunia had been considering psychiatric help, Jade came out of her room. It wasn't because she felt better, but rather because she'd seen the toll she was taking on her family.

And so she went through the motions of daily life, doing what she was supposed to do, but it didn't change the fact that that was all she was doing: going through the motions. It was like she was just playing a part in a play. Even though she acted happy, Aunt Petunia noticed that something was wrong.

Once out of her room, Jade didn't want to stay in the house… every day, Dudley's stupid friends visited. Piers, Dennis, Malcom, and Gordon were their names, and they were all big and stupid jerks. Whenever Piers passed by Jade, he'd quietly hiss an insult at her. _"Freak…"_ To pass the days, Jade wandered around, walking wherever her feet would take her. Eventually, she started finding that they more often than not took her to the library, where it was nice and cool and there were few visitors, so she could be alone. And so she spent her days there, immersing herself in the fantastic worlds offered by books for hours on end, particularly enjoying the vampire books, for some reason. As inappropriate as it seemed for her age, Jade especially enjoyed Anne Rice's books… the books that actually _were_ appropriate for her age were just too boring. Another of her favorite types was those dealing with dragons, such as Anne McCaffrey's "The Dragonriders of Pern". All in all, she just couldn't enough of books, it seemed. Anything to drown out her thought of the real world.

Each day, she'd arrive at the library around noon, and then stay there until closing time or until she had a martial arts class. Sometimes, though, she'd visit Mrs. Figg in the mornings. The old woman was glad for the company. She wasn't quite as fond of her cats as she'd used to be, though; it seems that she broken her leg tripping over one of them! Jade playfully admonished the calico who was responsible, earning a chuckle from Mrs. Figg.

Jade didn't know whether to look to the end of the holidays with dread, or with hope. Dread, because she'd have to go back to being around lots of people, and she'd be away from her cousin, who was her only friend; Dudley was being sent off to Vernon's old private school, Smeltings, and Jade would be going off to the public secondary school. Hope, because maybe now she'd have the chance to start over, since there'd be so many more kids. Maybe she could stop being the 'freak' of the school. Maybe she'd actually be able to blend in this time, if not have a friend or two. Jokingly, Dudley teased Jade.

"They stuff people's heads down the toilet the first day at Stonewall," he said to Jade as they were sitting on the couch one evening, watching the TV. "Want to come upstairs and practice?"

"No thanks," Jade answered, then continued, just as playfully, "the poor toilet's never had anything as horrid as your head down it – it might be sick." She sat there a moment, watching her cousin, then, just as she saw comprehension dawning in his eyes, she stuck out her tongue and ran, only to hear the usual elephant stomps of him chasing her once more.

Later, though, Jade came to a decision once she had done a LOT of thinking on it. She called Petunia and Vernon into the living room.

"Aunt Petunia? Uncle Vernon?" She asked, her voice sort of timid. She knew they wouldn't like this, but it would be for the best. "I have something I need to ask you about…"

Aunt Petunia and Uncle Vernon were seated side-by-side on the couch, and she was standing in front of them, facing towards them. Petunia spoke. "Yes, Jade, sweetums, what is it?"

"Well… I wanna be home-schooled."

"What!" It was Uncle Vernon that spoke here, his mustache bristling at even the suggestion. But before he could say anything further, Jade continued.

"As you both know, my … my powers have been known to sometimes manifest themselves when I become emotional, or scared, or things like that. And the way they show themselves can't be predicted, like… like with that snake incident. And so I don't want to go to school anymore. There's far too much risk of kids getting hurt, since I don't know how to control my magic. Come on, you both should be able to see that this is the most logical explanation!" She stopped here, out of breath from the long-winded speech, waiting for their reaction.

Aunt Petunia frowned in a worried way. "But, but Jade, dear… all this solitude, it can't be good for you!" She looked at Vernon, then, and they spoke to each other in low murmurs. Jade tuned them out, respecting their privacy.

Finally, Uncle Vernon spoke. "If that's what you want, Jade, it's your choice. You're sure?"

Jade considered, then nodded. "Mmm hmm."

"Then we'll make all the arrangements required when Dudley goes back to school."

And so that's how it was to be, and Jade felt that weight lifted from her.

One day in the middle of July, Aunt Petunia took Dudley and Jade to London to buy Dudley's uniform for Smeltings. While they were out, Petunia also bought some stuff for Jade, including several green shirts that brought out her eyes, some cute hair accessories, some skirts, and some other stuff. Petunia obviously felt bad because Jade had been so depressed lately, and wanted to cheer her up. For lunch, Petunia even took them to Jade's favorite place to eat, and it was painfully obvious to Jade how hard Petunia was trying, and she felt a stab of guilt.

That evening, as Dudley paraded around in his new uniform, it was obvious that Uncle Vernon had never been prouder. Aunt Petunia wailed that her baby was growing up, and as for Jade… Jade had never had to restrain such an amount of laughter in her life; to her, Dudley looked like a clown in his ugly new outfit.

When Jade wasn't looking, Dudley poked her rather hard with his stupid Smelting stick. In reaction, she whipped around, grabbed the knobbly stick from his grasp and, not giving him time to react, she whacked her cousin rather hard across the shins, leaving him howling with pain. She smirked and rolled her eyes. "Don't poke me and you won't get hurt, Dud."

And with that she went upstairs and turned in for the night.

The next day, as they sat at the breakfast table, they heard the click of the mail slot as letters were pushed through.

"Get the mail, Dudley," grunted Uncle Vernon without looking away from his paper.

"Make Jade get it."

"Get the mail, Jade,"

"Make Dudley get it."

"Poke her with your Smelting stick, Dudley."

Before Dudley could do so, Jade spoke, not even looking up from her cereal. "Want whacked again? Didn't think so. Get the mail, Dudley." She looked up from her cereal at him with an innocent look. "Please?"

Dudley obligingly went to get the mail, grumbling along the way. When he came back with it in his hand, he had a rather surprised look upon his face. "Jade, you got a letter…" He held it out to her.

Jade took it with a bewildered expression upon her face. "A letter? But… who would be writing me…?" She started to open it, but Aunt Petunia surprised her by uncharacteristically ripping it from her grasp. She turned to face her aunt in surprise. "What…?"

Aunt Petunia's hands trembled so badly that they fumbled as she attempted to open the envelope. When she finally got it open and was able to reach the sheet of paper that had been folded within, her face went white. Abruptly, letter clutched so tightly that her fists were white, she grabbed onto the arm of Uncle Vernon's jacket and pulled him from his chair and out of the room, where they locked themselves in the other room.

Jade sat numbly at the table, wondering what the heck was going on. For a minute, there was silence, and then, out of nowhere, Uncle Vernon's yells began booming out, so loud that Dudley, wincing, moved away from where he'd been listening at the keyhole. "NO! NO! NONONONO _**NO!**_She's NOT going! I agreed we could take her in as a baby when you found her, Petunia, only because you'd so desperately wanted to, but I said then and I say now that under NO CONDITION would she have anything to do with that funny stuff! She'd live here on Privet Drive and grow up as a normal, happy, well-adjusted girl!"

Jade crept to the door beside Dudley so that she could hear Aunt Petunia's answer. It came a moment later, and it sounded almost as though the woman was holding back sobs. She also sounded a bit cross with Vernon. "But she's NOT a well-adjusted girl, Vernon! I've had to deal with it for years, now, and it's only gotten worse since the snake incident! Jade… she doesn't want to hurt us, she _tries_… she tried _so _hard to act as though she's happy, but she's _not_, Vernon! As hard as she tries, her eyes give her away. I've already had to sit here and see this sadness in her eyes for years now, and I'm not going to just sit by and watch it anymore! No MORE, Vernon!"

Their voices grew quiet then, and Jade could hear no more. She moved back to her seat at the table, along with Dudley, and Jade quietly ate her breakfast without even really tasting it, thinking. _What could that letter be? Why's Uncle Vernon so mad? What did I do?_

Several minutes later, the door opened and a still-pale Aunt Petunia poked her head out. "Dudley, sweetums, go to your room." Her voice cracked slightly as she continued, "Jade, please come in here. Your uncle and I need to speak with you about something very important."

Jade obligingly followed Aunt Petunia in and seated herself in an armchair that had been positioned across from where her aunt and uncle were sitting.

When they didn't say anything, Jade looked questioningly at them, her bright green eyes full of curiosity and worry. Without a word, Aunt Petunia handed the envelope to Jade.

Jade looked at the envelope closely. It didn't look like your typical envelope… it was thick and heavy, was yellowish-colored, and seemed to be made more of parchment than paper. Written on it in shining emerald-green ink was:

Ms. J. Potter

The Kitchen

4 Privet Drive

Little Whinging

Surrey

She turned it over, and saw that there was an already-broken purple wax seal bearing a coat of arms; a lion, an eagle, a badger, and a snake. She had a feeling that this letter… that it was somehow to be a HUGE turning point in her life. She looked at it with apprehension, and then looked at her aunt and uncle, both of whom were staring at her. Vernon, at least, did not look happy. Looking at them, Jade swallowed the lump in her throat before speaking. "This letter… it's really important, isn't it? It's going to change everything… won't it?"

Vernon remained silent, but Petunia found her voice enough to speak. "Yes, Jade, dear, it is important… it's –"

But Jade silenced her with a wave. "Please don't tell me… but do tell me this… does it have anything to do with just the next week or two?"

Aunt Petunia shook her head. "No, it's –"

Jade spoke, not letting her finish. "Then I think I'll wait just a bit before opening it." And so she would; she knew that this letter would mean big changes, and now, with those changes staring her right in the face, she suddenly found herself to be feeling warm and safe where she was, and just a bit scared of the letter, as foolish as it sounded. And so she'd give herself a little time, and not open that letter until she could admit to herself that she really _was_ ready.

With that, Jade walked out of the room with the envelope in her hand, leaving both Vernon and Petunia with very surprised looks on their faces.

And so that's how it was. Vernon and Petunia both respected Jade's wishes and tried to act as though everything was normal, as both of them knew that these would be the last few absolutely 'normal' weeks of their niece's life, and Jade tried to forget the letter sitting on her dresser upstairs.

The next morning, when the mail came, Uncle Vernon had Dudley go and get it. A moment later, they heard him shouting, "Here's another one! Jade's got another letter just like yesterday!"

"Just put it on the mantelpiece, son." Uncle Vernon growled.

"But –"

"Just do it."

And so he did. The letter, a twin to the one received yesterday, sat there innocently on the mantelpiece.

The next day, Jade didn't stay around for breakfast (or mail). Instead, she just grabbed a piece of toast and ate it as she walked to the library. Once there, however, she found that she couldn't drown herself in books as she usually did! For some reason, she just couldn't concentrate… she just couldn't get her mind off of that letter.

And then, to make matters worse, there was a big commotion, and a librarian shrieked. As Jade looked up to see what was going on, she saw three owls fly into the library. The lead one, a large screech owl, dived straight at her; she ducked fearfully, expecting to feel talons in her hair any instant, but instead felt something light fall on her head, follow by two other somethings. As she looked up, she saw the owls flying back out of an open window. Baffled, she looked to see what had been dropped on her; more of those letters! These ones were addressed as so:

Ms. J. Potter

The Library

Table 3

Little Whinging

Surrey

She stared at the letters in disbelief before stuffing them hastily in the bookbag she always brought with her to the library.

She had a feeling that she knew what these letters had to do with… after all, what else could it be?

On Saturday, Jade woke up early, so she decided to make breakfast for everyone when the milkman dropped off their eggs. Setting the bacon to fry, Jade then expertly cracked open two eggs at once in one hand, letting the insides drop into the pan.

Wait a minute…

There were no yolks or whites! Instead, out popped little crumpled yellow balls that expanded quickly to full-sized envelopes. Turning off the stove in haste, she cracked open the rest of the eggs to find that they all held the same.

The next day, Jade was exhausted. She'd stayed up all night, considering opening that letter, wondering if she were ready for this step yet…

It was Sunday, and she felt happy for that, at least, as Petunia served her an omelet, urging her worriedly to eat. Dudley and Vernon were watching TV in the family room. Maybe today she wouldn't get any letters, since there wasn't any post…

Or maybe not.

Just as she was cutting a piece of her omelet to take a bite, something flew out of the chimney and over her head. Next thing she knew, an avalanche of letters came flying out of the fireplace, raining around her in torrents, going everywhere like a crazy storm.

As Aunt Petunia let out a shriek, Jade jumped up, a determined look on her face, arms raised, green eyes blazing, as she shouted:

"Alright! ALRIGHT! I"LL OPEN YOUR BLOODY LETTER!" Stumbling through the letters out of the room, she could be heard muttering. "Honestly, what's a bloody girl gotta do to get some bloody peace around here! I wanted some bloody time, but I can't even bloody have that! Honestly…"

She sat on her bed, glaring at the innocent-looking envelope lying there on her desk. _I mean, sure, it's probably to do with the type of thing I've been bloody waiting for, but I just wanted a little bit of bloody time! Could nobody respect that?_

Shoulders slumped in defeat, she came forward and picked the envelope up, tracing her fingers lightly over the coat of arms thoughtfully. Such a lot of trouble over such an unimportant-looking thing…

Finally she delicately pulled the parchment from inside the envelope and unfolded it. This is what it read:

HOGWARTS SCHOOL

_of _WITCHCRAFT _and _WIZARDRY

Headmaster: Albus Dumbledore_  
(Order of Merlin, First Class, Grand Sorc., Chf. Warlock,_

_Supreme Mugwump, International Confed. of Wizards_

Dear Ms. Potter,

We are pleased to inform you that you have been accepted

at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. Please

find enclosed a list of all necessary books and equipment.

Term begins on September 1. We await your owl by no

later than July 31.

Yours sincerely,

Minerva McGonagall

Minerva McGonagall,

_Deputy Headmistress_

Jade stared at the letter for a while, and felt as though a great burden had been lifted from her shoulders; she had known that the letter was from the Wizarding world, but she'd been terrified that they were going to take her from here and then she'd never be able to come back. She just hadn't been quite ready to just abandon her family for a whole new life. Guess she'd read one too many books lately…

A slow smile crept its way onto her face. This was what she'd been waiting for for so long! Finally, she could not only be with her own kind, as she'd hoped, but she'd be trained to use and control the magic within her!

Happy tears welled up as she sat down the letter; she'd no longer have to worry about being different from everyone else… she didn't have to be afraid of being herself anymore!

A tapping at the window jerked her out of her reverie. She looked up to see an owl outside, hooting anxiously at her. Hesitating only a moment, she opened the window and the owl fluttered inside to land on her dresser. It held out its leg, and Jade took the little parchment which she saw attached to it.

Dear Ms. Potter,

I am sure that you received your letter days ago, so this letter now should

not be very shocking…

Jade stopped for a moment after that paragraph and rolled her eyes; she had the distinct feeling that the writer of this letter knew very well that she had only just opened her letter. This thought in her head, she continued reading the letter.

Obviously, since you were raised by your muggle family, you

know very little of the wizarding world, except, of course, that your

parents were murdered by the greatly feared dark wizard, Voldemort,

when you were but a baby. You should also know from the same let-

ter in which you read that information that when he tried to kill you,

his spell mysteriously rebounded and he was, it seems, done in by his

own spell… Thus making you the girl who lived.

There is something very important that you should know, Jade,

And that is this: your name is known clear throughout the wizarding

world, seeing as how you defeated the most evil wizard of our time

when you were but a baby! Almost all wizards, even those who served

him, feared him, and yet you beat him.

So, obviously, as you enter our world you will be a celebrity;

you've been locked away from our world for all these years, and now

everyone can finally see the miracle for themselves! Jade Potter, the

Girl Who Lived!

As I was saying, except for the facts already mentioned, you

know very little of our world. Since you will be needing to buy your

supplies, anyway, I have taken the liberty of assigning you a guide to

take you shopping and to answer any questions which you may have.

The guide I have assigned you is a professor from Hogwarts, so

you will also be able to acquaint yourself with one of your professors

before you even enter the school grounds! You should consider your-

self lucky in this.

The professor shall arrive to pick you up on the morning of your

birthday. Please be ready.

And, Jade, it is nice to be able to finally welcome you into our

world.

Sincerely,

_Professor Albus Dumbledore_

Hearing a fluttering, Jade turned to watch the owl fly off, its job done.

Feeling quite tired after all of the excitement, Jade laid down in her bed, paying no attention to how early it was in the day… Finally. Finally, she wouldn't have to worry.

**QS: Heh, I think it was funny how mad she got over the letters.**


	4. C4: Cigars, Giants, and Dragons

_**Title: Jade Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone**_

_**Author: Queen Serenity**_

_**Fandom: Harry Potter**_

_**Chapter: Four – Cigars, Giants, and Dragons**_

It wasn't until that afternoon that Jade came downstairs. Uncle Vernon and Aunt Petunia sat together on the couch, watching the TV, and Dudley wasn't home, probably off hanging out with his friends or something.

When Jade walked into the room, Uncle Vernon picked up the remote and switched off the TV so that both he and Petunia could give Jade their full attention.

The first thing that Jade said was something that they'd expected: "I opened my letter."

Several minutes of silence followed this, neither aunt nor uncle making a move to say anything. Jade let out a sigh. "Uncle Vernon, if you really don't want me to go… then I guess I won't." Her eyes were downcast, not looking at them but rather at her hands.

Only a minute of silence followed. Then there was a grunt and Uncle Vernon spoke unexpectedly, sounding gruffer than usual, as though he were forcing himself to say what he was about to say. "It's your own decision, Jade. All your aunt and I want is for you to be happy. That's all."

Jade looked up and was surprised to see that the big man's eyes were teared up, along with Aunt Petunia's. Petunia spoke next.

"You do realize… if you go to this school, it will be like a boarding school. You will live there, except for the time that you spend with us during the summer and such."

Jade nodded, her own eyes teared up slightly. But then she smiled. "I think I know why you guys are so worried… but it's something that you don't need to worry about. No matter what, I'll always be me. I may learn some new stuff, but I won't change who I am… I'll always be who you see in front of you now. I'll always be Jade."

At this, both her aunt and uncle stood and enveloped her in a big hug.

And so it was accepted that Jade would be going to Hogwarts. And in the days after, Petunia was overjoyed to find that there was once more light in her niece's eyes, and the seemingly perpetual emptiness had faded. For the first time since Petunia had first lain eyes on Jade, the young girl seemed truly happy.

When Jade told her family of the professor coming on her birthday it was decided that they would celebrate on the day after.

On her birthday, Jade awoke bright and early; the night before, she'd realized that the note had not specified when the professor would be showing up, so she had wanted to be awake early just in case. Besides, it felt to her almost like it does Christmas morning, where you wake up early because you just know there's presents waiting for you, and you can't sleep another wink!

When she got up, she sifted through her closet to find the perfect thing to wear; after all, she wanted to look nice! Finally, she chose a pair of black dress pants which were flared slightly at the bottom, and a sleeveless emerald-green tunic-like top. To complete the outfit, she tied a satin black sash around her waist, knotting it loosely at her side.

Once she was dressed, she set to brushing out her long hair. Once that was done, she left it mostly down except for a very small portion on the side towards the front, which she put in a little braid that had a little green ribbon braided into it.

Afterwards, when she examined herself in the mirror, she was rather pleased with her appearance; not too showy, but still pretty. At a last thought, she grabbed her well-worn always-carried black backpack and slung it over her shoulder.

It was about nine when the doorbell rang. A minute later, Aunt Petunia called up the stairs. "Jade? Your professor's here!"

When she came down the stairs Jade found Aunt Petunia, a distasteful look marring her face, talking to a pale, thin man dressed all in black. He had soft-looking (AN: I say it DOESN'T LOOK GREASY! insane cackle Ahem… well, back to the story) black hair that reached just past his chin and deep jet black eyes that went unfocused for a moment as he looked up to see Jade coming down the stairs. He unconsciously mouthed something which neither Jade nor Petunia caught…'Lily'.

A moment later, however, he snapped out of it and bowed politely in greeting. "Miss Potter, I presume? I am Professor Snape. It is a pleasure to meet you." His voice was deep and cultured-sounding, and he spoke in a low tone. Jade would bet, though, that he needn't ever raise his voice to get his class's attention. He gave off an aura that commanded your utmost attention.

Jade smiled, remembering her manners. She bowed her head slightly, since she was not in a dress which she could curtsey in. "It's nice to meet you, Professor Snape. Please, though, call me Jade. At least until I'm in your class." She descended the few remaining stairs to stand next to her aunt and the professor.

"Are you ready to go?" He questioned.

Jade nodded.

"Fine then." And then he produced from one of the inner pockets of his cloak a large brown cigar, which he then held out to her.

She stared at it, surprised. "Ummm… I'm sorry, Professor Snape, but I don't smoke cigarettes, much less cigars. I'll have to decline."

At this, the professor gave a low chuckle, something that Jade had yet to find out didn't happen very often, especially at such light-hearted circumstances. He shook his head, his black hair moving slightly with the movement. "No, you silly girl, this isn't a cigar. Or at least not just a cigar. One of the first rules you must learn in the magical world is that not everything and everyone are as they seem. Take this, for example; it appears to be a simple cigar, but is nothing less than a Portkey."

Jade looked confused. "A Portkey? May I ask what that is?"

He nodded. "Of course. Part of my job as your guide is to impress upon you some knowledge of our world. A Portkey is usually an object that is used to transport Wizards from one spot to another at a prearranged time. This one, however, is different. The Hogwarts Headmaster, Professor Dumbledore, personally enchanted this one to be a two-use Portkey which, instead of working at a prearranged time, works once you and I are both touching it. For the second use, it will work again once we both touch it to teleport us back. Do you understand?"

Jade nodded and, without further ado, she reached out and touched the cigar. She didn't know exactly what to expect, but what happened wasn't anything she would have guessed at. As soon as her finger touched the cigar, Jade felt as though something hooked just below her navel had suddenly been jerked irresistibly forward, as though someone or something had yanked a rope connected to her in an unexpectedly sudden way. Her feet left the ground, and she could feel Snape beside her, his shoulders banging into her own; they were both rushing forward in a howl of wind and swirling color, feeling like they were being reeled in quickly through a hurricane. She would have been afraid of getting blown away, but her fingers seemed to be super-glued to the cigar still clenched in Snape's hand, as though it were pulling her magnetically onward to her destination and then –

Her feet slammed into a floor. She most likely would have fallen over, if Professor Snape hadn't steadied her just then. She took a few moments to get her bearings before lifting her head to look around at her surroundings, curious as to where they'd landed.

It certainly wasn't what she'd expected. It seemed they were in a rather dark and sorta shabby pub. There weren't that many people in here, but they all stopped talking when they saw Snape and Jade appear out of nowhere. As Snape tucked the cigar securely back into her inside pocket, he murmured quietly to Jade, "the Leaky Cauldron. Something for you to remember is that it's a rather famous place in our community."

Jade nodded, and was about to say that for a famous place, it sure didn't look it, but then a thought occurred to her; Snape had told her 'Not everything and everyone are as they seem'. Most likely, he had meant places, too. This was most likely one of those types of places.

Everyone seemed to know Snape. The bartender reached for a glass. "The usual, Severus?"

Snape shook his head, and Jade noticed that, while Snape had only been slightly friendly to her, he seemed just coldly civil in here, judging by his demeanor. And barely that, at that. "No, Tom, I am afraid that I cannot just now. I happen to be on business for Dumbledore." He gestured slightly to Jade, only to find that she'd disappeared. He found her quickly, just behind him. She peered out, a bit shy, from behind his back at everyone else.

"Good Lord," said the bartender, peering at the green-eyed girl. "Is this – can this be –?"

Snape nodded slightly, and Jade noticed that the entire pub had suddenly gone completely still and silent.

"Bless my soul," whispered the bartender, "Jade Potter… what an honor."

He surprised Jade by rushing out from behind the bar, rushing toward her and, before she could move back, seizing her hand, tears in his eyes.

"Welcome back, Miss Potter, welcome back."

Jade didn't know what to say to this. Everyone was looking at her, and she gulped, feeling like a deer caught in the headlights. Suddenly everyone was up and crowded around her, all reaching to shake her hand. Jade was surprised to meet up with a little old wizard, who turned out be one of the strangers who'd shaken her hand when she was small. With all the hand-shaking, it felt almost as though her arm was going to be ripped from its socket.

A pale young man made his way forward, wringing his hands, looking very nervous. He had a tick in one eye. Having a sudden bad feeling, Jade ducked back to her safe spot behind Snape for safety. She hadn't even heard him say a word, but Jade already knew that she didn't like this guy, whoever the heck he was.

Snape nodded his head slightly in greeting to the young man before looking around at Jade. "Jade, this is another one of your Professors, Professor Quirrell."

"P-P-Potter, c-can't tell you how p-pleased I am to meet you." He reached out to grasp Jade's hand, but she pulled away without even thinking about it, staring coldly at the outstretched hand before ducking once more behind Professor Snape without even a word of greeting. She was one to trust her instincts. Snape looked to where she was behind him and gave her a strange look, obviously wondering what was up with this girl who had been, until now, pretty friendly and polite.

Quirrell put his hand back down, taking no notice of Jade's rudeness, and kept on stammering about stuff. After catching that he was to be the Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher, Jade paid no attention to him. She tapped Snape lightly on the back and he bent down slightly to hear her. "Professor Snape, could we please get out of here? I…"

But Snape stopped her. "No need to explain, Jade." And he led Jade past the stammering Professor Quirrell, through the crowd, and out into a small, walled-in empty courtyard.

Jade was the one who broke the short silence which ensued. "Boy, Professor Dumbledore really wasn't exaggerating when he told me in his letter that I was a celebrity, was he?"

Snape nodded. "Yes, Jade, you are, I must say, one of the most famous people in our world. Even Professor Quirrell was excited to meet you, though you obviously didn't want to meet him."

Jade shrugged. "Is that why he was so nervous? Because he was getting to meet me, I mean?"

Snape shook his head. "No, that blithering idiot's always nervous. He learned so much out of books, and then thought he knew all there was to know. So then the fool took a year off to go abroad and gain some experience in the field. Well, let's just say that some can handle it out there and he couldn't. No one knows all of the exact details of what happened, but he's never returned to normal since he's returned."

Jade nodded. "I see." And she did see. Even in the Muggle world, there were some people who were meant to stay behind books and desks, and there were some people who were meant to be out in the action experiencing it. It wasn't that common when one was an adept at both.

Meanwhile, Snape caught Jade's attention by pulling a wand from his sleeve and tapping a particular brick on the wall in front of them.

Jade was amazed to see what happened next; the brick which Snape had touched sort of jiggled, or something… a small hole appeared, growing wider and wider. Just a second later, they were facing a large archway that looked onto a cobbled street that twisted and turned out of sight.

"Welcome," Snape said in his sometimes naturally dramatic voice, "to Diagon Alley."

Jade walked forward into the alley slowly, sort of numb, her big green eyes wide as they drank in all there was to see; all the strange shops, all the strange people, all the strange _everything_. Unseen by her, Snape smirked slightly at her completely and utterly innocent amazement.

Jade looked this way and that, turning her head slowly so as to take in everything that she could around her. "Professor Snape?" She asked, her voice quiet in its awe. "If you are in no hurry, could we please not rush with the shopping today? I would truly like to take the time to thoroughly take in everything, you know?"

Snape nodded. "Of course, Jade. There is no need to hurry, anyway, as I have no other engagements today. Before we can do any of your shopping, however, we must stop and collect some of your money, of course."

"My… Professor, is that a human!" Jade had been about to ask about her money, but had been distracted by an extremely large and hairy man who was making his way towards them. He must have been at least ten feet (dunno his real height, sorry) tall, and was as wide as two or three average men. The man's face was almost completely hidden by his long, shaggy mane of hair and his wild, tangled beard which stuck out in almost every which way. However, just before he reached them, Jade could make out his beetle-black eyes, which were surveying her with unhidden joy. Before Jade could pull the duck-behind-Snape maneuver, the man, or giant, or whatever he was surprised her by catching her up in an almost bone-crushing hug, her feet leaving the ground.

As Jade struggled to breathe, Snape seemed to read her mind, or at least see her distress. "Hagrid?" He said in a rather sneering voice. "I do believe Miss Potter does need to breathe."

"OH!" Hagrid dropped Jade in embarrassment. "I'm sorry fer that, Jade. It's jest that I ain't seen you since yeh was just a lit'le baby, and I'm jest so happy to finally meet yeh again! I've bin… bin waitin… fer this fer… fer years!" Hagrid's voice was gravelly, and had been normal, though a bit embarrassed, until he'd mentioned how long it'd been since he'd seen Jade. Now, to Jade's horror, he was sobbing with happiness.

As Snape looked on in amusement, smirking, Jade tentatively patted Hagrid's large hand reassuringly. "There, there. I may have been gone for a long while, but I'm back now, so cheer up! Okay… umm, I think I heard your name is Hagrid…"

The giant straightened up and wiped his face on the back of his sleeve, composing himself before answering. "I'm sorry Jade. It's true, I haven't properly introduced meself to you… Rubeus Hagrid, Keeper of Keys and Ground at Hogwarts." He held out his great hand, and Jade grasped it firmly with her own small one, shaking it firmly.

Letting go of it, Jade bowed her head slightly, politely, as she always did when she was not in a dress to curtsy. "And as I'm sure you already know, I am Miss Jade Lily Potter."

Hagrid nodded. "It's yer birthday, Jade… I remembered… A very happy birthday to yeh! Anyway, I got summat fer yeh here – I mighta sat on it at some point, but it'll taste all right." And with that he pulled from an inside pocket of his black overcoat a slightly squashed box.

Jade took it from him, crouched on the ground, and opened it. Inside was a large sticky chocolate cake with Happy Birthday Jade inscribed on it in green icing. Teared-up slightly as the sweet gesture, Jade stood, leaving the box at her feet, and threw her arms as far around Hagrid as they would go (which was not very far). "Thanks, Hagrid." Letting go, she closed the box and picked it back up, holding it carefully in her arms.

Hagrid blushed slightly. "Where're you two gonna go next?"

Snape, who had been just standing there, waiting for Hagrid and Jade to finish, spoke up. "I was just about to take Miss Potter to collect some of her money."

Hagrid nodded. "Ah, yer goin' ta Gringotts then, of course. I'll tag along, since I've got me some business there, also."

Jade noticed that Snape seemed to be resisting the urge to roll his eyes. "Fine, but let's be quick about it… I'm sure Miss Potter is eager to explore the shops."

And so the unlikely trio walked until they had come to a snow-white building much larger than any of the others. Standing guard by its burnished bronze doors, wearing a uniform of gold and scarlet, was something that Jade had no problem identifying, what with all the fantasy books she had previously read.

Before either Snape or Hagrid could give an explanation of the creature to her, she spoke up. "Correct me if I'm wrong, Professor, but that would be a goblin, right?"

Both men were obviously surprised at Jade's correct guess, and Snape even looked a tad pleased.

Once inside, they made there way to a free spot at the counter. Snape was the one who spoke to the goblin first. "We have come to collect some money from Miss Jade Potter's safe."

The goblin looked down at Jade, and then back at Snape. "I see. You have her key, then, sir?"

"Of course. I wouldn't be so foolish as to come without it. And also Mr. Rubeus Hagrid is here with us… I believe he has something he must collect, as well."

Hagrid stepped forward and handed the goblin a letter. "This here's from Professor Dumbledore… it's about the You-Know-What in vault seven hundred and thirteen."

After reading over the letter carefully, the goblin nodded once more before calling on another goblin, one named Griphook, to take the three of them down to both of the safes.

As they followed the goblin, Jade privately wondered what it was that Hagrid was picking up that seemed so secret, but decided not to pry. She only did that when necessary.

When they reached the cart, they climbed in, barely able to fit comfortably because of Hagrid's large mass. As the cart sped along the track, Hagrid appeared as though he was going to be sick and Snape was looking at him with apparent disdain. Snape then turned to Jade and pulled from a pouch inside his cloak three coins; a bronze one, a gold one, and a silver one. "I should explain our currency to you." He said.

First, he held up the first coin; a large gold one about the size of a US silver dollar. "This coin is worth the most of the three. It is called a Galleon. Some of the poorer families of our community actually have quite few of these."

Next, he held up the second coin; a medium-sized silver one about the size of a US quarter. "This, Jade," he said, "is a Sickle. There are seventeen of these in a Galleon. This is, of course, more common than the Galleon."

Lastly, he held up the last coin; a little bronze one that was slightly smaller than the US penny. "This is called a Knut, and is worth the least of these coins. There are twenty-nine of these to a Sickle." He pocketed the three coins once more. "Understand?"

Jade nodded… after all, it wasn't hard at all!

About then, they reached Jade's safe. Once the goblin had unlocked the door, Snape and Jade entered while Hagrid waited, trying to collect his stomach, in the cart.

Once they got inside, Jade's jaw dropped. Snape smirked slightly, amused at her reaction. "It's all yours, Jade." He said quietly. "Every bit of it."

Inside were heaps and heaps of the assorted coins, gleaming at her. And here she'd thought that her parents had probably just left her with a tiny bit! Wow!

Wordlessly, Jade began loading some of each of the coins into her backpack until Snape said she had enough, then they left the safe and climbed back into the cart.

They went faster and deeper into the tunnels, and Jade shivered slightly as the air became colder.

When they had reached the vault that was their destination, Snape and Jade waited in the cart. As Hagrid and the goblin made their way to the door, Jade was surprised to see that it had no keyhole; instead, the goblin simply stroked it gently with one of his long fingers, causing the door to just melt away.

Snape saw Jade's questioning look as Hagrid made his way inside. "Only a Gringotts goblin may do that… if anyone else were so foolish as to attempt to do so, then that person would be sucked right through the door and trapped inside until someone checked if anyone was inside, which does not, Jade, happen too often. More often than not, would-be thieves simply starve to death in wait…" He finished with a morbid smile which made Jade shudder slightly.

"Ugh! I'd hate to be one of them!" She said as she shuddered, then added quickly. "Not that I'd be so stupid as to do that sort of thing, of course."

"Of course."

Hagrid came out a moment later, and Jade noticed that he was tucking a little grubby brown paper-wrapped package into his coat. She wondered idly what it was that could be so important, but again decided not to pry.

A little later, as the three stood on the pavement outside of the bank, Hagrid was standing there and looking as though he were about to be sick still. He turned to Professor Snape. "Professor Snape," he said, "would you mind if you two met me here at one? I've gotta go get me stomach in order… some firewhiskey'll help a mite, I think."

Snape looked at Jade, then back at Hagrid, thinking for a moment. "Fine, Hagrid. We'll be here, waiting… but if you're not here then, we'll not wait around for you. We haven't time to waste simply waiting for you."

"Right… Don't worry, Snape, I'll be here, or my name ain't Rubeus Hagrid!"

"Oh, I'm not worried," Snape said witheringly. "I'm simply stating the facts."

And so the still slightly-green looking Hagrid bid them goodbye for now and lumbered off in the direction of the pub.

Snape stood there for a moment, thinking, and then turned to Jade. "I have some business to take care of, Jade, so I'll see you off to get your robes first, alright?"

"Alright," Jade agreed.

He pointed towards the shop where she would be going, Madam Malkin's Robes for all occasions, and Jade walked towards it, looking around as she walked. Snape waited until she had entered the shop before he took off walking himself.

As soon as Jade walked in, she met Madam Malkin; a squat, smiling witch dressed all in mauve.

"Hogwarts, dear?" she said, before Jade could even say a word. "Got the lot here – another young man being fitted just now, in fact.

In the back of the shop, a boy was standing on a footstool while another witch pinned up his long black robes. The boy had a pale, pointed face, white-blonde hair that was currently slicked smartly back, and pale blue-gray eyes. He watched as Madam Malkin stood Jade on a stool next to him, slipped on a long robe over her head, and began to pin it to the right length.

"Hullo," said the boy, smiling slightly as he looked Jade up and down curiously. "Hogwarts, too?"

Jade nodded, smiling back. "Mmm hmm."

"My father's next door buying my books and mother's up the street looking at wands," said the boy. He had a bored, drawling voice. "Then I'm going to drag them off to look at racing brooms. I don't see why first years can't have their own. I think I'll bully father into getting me one and I'll smuggle it in somehow."

Boy, this boy seemed rather arrogant! But, by listening to him and his aristocratic tone, Jade guessed he was rich, so that wasn't too surprising.

"Have _you _got your own broom?" the boy went on.

"No," Jade answered, shaking her head.

"Play Quidditch at all?"

"Nuh uh," she answered. "Honestly, I don't really know what Quidditch even is. You see…" she blushed slightly. "I'm rather new to all of this."

"Oh." Instantly, the boy's manner turned so frigid that Jade could almost feel it physically. "You're a Muggle, then."

"A…?" Jade trailed off for a moment, not sure what he meant, until she remembered something that Snape had offhandedly mentioned. "Oh! NO! Not Muggle-born, simply Muggle-raised."

"What?" The boy seemed confused by this.

"Well, you see, I was orphaned as a baby when my Wizard parents both died," Jade tried to explain. "And so I was given to my Muggle relatives to be raised by."

The boy nodded, now understanding, and the frigid air melted a bit. "I see." Then, he seemed to fit two and two together in his head, and looked surprised. "Wait just a second… if I'm right, then you must be…"

Jade smiled once more, flashing her white teeth. To show who she was, she parted her bangs to show her scar, standing out against her tan. Letting go of her hair, she spoke again. "Jade Lily Potter," she said, "but you can call me Jade." She tilted her head slightly, curious. "May I ask your name?"

The boy gave an arrogant but cute smirk/smile before answering. "The name's Malfoy. Draco Malfoy."

"Pleased to meet you, Draco," Jade said, then added, looking thoughtful, "Draco… If I remember right, that's Latin for 'Dragon', right?"

"Yes. And it was a pleasure meeting you, also, Jade."

Madam Malkin finished with Jade then and Jade stepped lightly down off of the stool. Before she left the shop with her packaged-up robes, the boy, who was also getting ready to leave, gave her a genuine smile. "I look forward to seeing you at Hogwarts, Jade."

Jade smiled back before leaving. "The same goes for you, Draco."

When she walked out, she found Snape waiting for her. When she spoke to him of Draco, he looked thoughtful before speaking.

"Draco Malfoy… he is… well, his family is very high in status, and yet they are not too well looked upon by some."

"Why is that?" Jade asked, curious.

"Well, when the dark lord was cast from power, many wizards came forward and claimed that they had simply been under his control, although many of the populace didn't believe them. Lucius Malfoy, Draco's father, who was said to be one of Voldemort's closest servants, was one of them."

"I see…" Jade said, thoughtful.

"Yes. So you see, because of his family's high status, Draco Malfoy will most likely have many friends, but mostly only in his own house. Anyone else will look at him badly, because not only of who he is, but where he comes from."

Jade nodded. "I think I understand, Professor Snape…" she paused for a moment before continuing. "For me, though, I don't decide on whether to be someone's friend by their status, or by what everyone else thinks of them… all that means nothing to my. I trust my own instincts, and so I judge by my own impressions of people, you know? If someone doesn't like who I choose to be friends with, then so be it. It's my own choice."

Snape looked at her for a moment, and Jade thought she might have said something wrong, until she saw him smile very slightly. "Very well said, Jade. Very well said. I only can hope that you'll be able to stick by what you said just now when you are in Hogwarts, and feeling the peer pressure all around you."

Jade simply shrugged, smiling.

Their next stop was the shop just next door, which sold quills, ink, parchment, and stuff like that. Along with the normal supplies she'd need, Jade picked up a cool dark red and silver quill which changed the ink to different colors as it wrote, the color depending on the user's mood.

They passed by the broomshop where Jade saw some kids admiring the broom in the window, the Nimbus Two-Thousand, which they were saying was the fastest ever.

And then they stopped at a shop that was pure heaven for Jade; it was called Flourish and Blotts, and sold books upon books upon books. Never had she seen so many! Unfortunately, though, Snape would only allow Jade to buy two extra books other than her school books, though he wouldn't explain why. She chose with great happiness _Creatures of Transylvania: True Stories of Vampires and Werewolves Who Changed History _by Lupis Bidmee and _Anne Rice: How the Vampire Expert Blends So Easily into the Muggle World_.

After picking up Jade's cauldron, which Snape helped pick out since she'd be using it mainly in his class, Snape pulled a pocket watch from his robes, examning it.

"We've got almost an hour until we're to meet Hagrid…" He said slowly. "So why don't we take a rest and stop for lunch?"

They headed back to the Leaky Cauldron, where they ordered two Shepard pies. As they ate, they sat there and talked, Snape explaining various things. Something mentioned by Draco occurred to Jade then.

"Professor Snape," she said after swallowing a bite. "Draco mentioned something… may I ask you what Quidditch is?"

"Ah!" Snape answered. "I apologize, for I forgot to mention that to you! Quidditch is very well known in the Wizarding world… it is our sport."

"Your sport?" Jade asked. "Is it played on broomsticks?" Snape nodded, and Jade spoke again. "Well, then, I'll have to check out a book on it at the Hogwarts library… I'm very curious about it!"

"You're right to be. Even in Hogwarts, it's important, and causes much competition among the Houses."

Jade looked perplexed. "Houses?"

Snape nodded. "Yes, Houses. You see, when students arrive into Hogwarts in their first year, they are all sorted into one of four houses; Slytherin, Ravenclaw, Hufflepuff, or Gryffindor. How the students are sorted depends on their personality traits. The brave usually go to Gryffindor, but it's often the type of bravery that is to be had by brutes; they're called daring by many, reckless by others. Gryffindors are usually those who are truly righteous in their beliefs and will rush blindly into things because of it." He smirked slightly, pausing. "Your father and mother were both in Gryffindor… but your mother, as brave as she was, didn't seem much like a Gryffindor. I think it must have been how righteous she was that got her sorted into that house… she always seemed more like a Ravenclaw, with how intelligent she was.

"Hufflepuff is the House that stands out the least among the four; they're rarely noticed. People sent there are usually people who are very just, and loyal, too. They're also usually quite patient, and are hard workers.

"The most intelligent people usually go to Ravenclaw, though not always. If someone loves to learn, that would be the best House for them. They're also usually quite good at solving riddles and puzzles.

"And lastly is Slytherin, which I am quite proud to say that I am the head of. If you're sly, sneaky, cunning, or have traits similar to those, then you often end up there. Many times, power-hungry people are sent here, people who will give up almost anything to get the power or knowledge which they seek. Slytherins are brave in their own right, but are simply not so foolish about it. I am sad to say, however, that Slytherin is nowadays the House looked worse upon by some, and many people desire not to be in that House, simply because the Dark Lord and most other Dark Wizards came from that house."

Jade, having finished her Shepard Pie before Snape, steepled her fingers, looking pensive for a moment, before speaking. "Then people who see that way are blind, Professor Snape."

"Oh?" He was surprised to hear this. "And why do you say that?"

"Well, they need simply to look at it this way… every apple is a fruit, right?"

"Correct."

"But that doesn't mean that every fruit is an apple! There're many other fruits as well! Do you get what I'm saying?"

"Yes…" And he did understand. "That's rather insightful for a girl of your age, Jade. You're saying that just because all Dark Wizards were Slytherins, that doesn't mean that all Slytherins are Dark Wizards."

"Mmm hmm!"

As the two spoke, neither of them noticed something rather small crawl into a large pocket of her backpack, which Jade had sat on the floor.

Suddenly Snape remembered something. "By the way… I took the liberty of picking you up a present, since it is your birthday, after all. Consider it a gift from me to welcome you into our world."

Jade gasped. "Professor, you didn't have to! I get plenty…"

He waved away her protests. "Trust me, my dear girl. With where you grew up, you've had nothing like this. I simply wish to be the first to give you a wizard gift." He handed over a small rectangular black box to Jade, which she opened.

She gasped. "It's so pretty!" And it was. In the little box was a very pretty choker. At the center was a golden disc, and out from the disk was a strange, pliable silvery chain of feathers which greatly resembled delicate wings.

Snape actually smiled at her delight. "That's not just a necklace, Jade. Since your... father... was a Quidditch enthusiast, I thought that you might take a liking to it, too, and so you would like this. The smallest ball in Quidditch is called the golden Snitch, and is the hardest to catch." He tapped the golden disk three times in quick succession and Jade was stunned to see the necklace transform into a winged golden ball, which fluttered about their heads like a hummingbird. When it started to zoom off, Snape called out "Shadari" and it raved back to them and dropped limply into his outstretched hand, again a necklace. He placed it back into the box.

"As you can see, this can transform into a real Snitch, which can work just like a normal one, except for the fact that when you say its custom word, which for yours is Shadari, it will return to your hand. This prevents it from flying o-" A very shocked Professor was cut off when his soon-to-be student jumped up and threw her arms around him in a very enthusiastic hug. Before he could react, though, she had let go and sat back down, flushed with pleasure over the gift. "Thank you, Professor Snape, this is the best present that I have ever received!"

Snape checked the time again, and gave a slightly withering look. "Time to meet Hagrid in front of the bank."

When they arrived, they found Hagrid waiting for them, looking slightly red-faced but green no more. He grinned at Jade. "Like I said, Jade, it's yer birthday. So I'm gonna get ya yer familiar… how's an owl sound to yeh?"

Jade protested. "Hagrid, you don't have to!"

"'Course I do. I'd feel bad if I didn't get yer a birthday present, Jade."

And so about a half an hour later the trio were leaving the Eeylops Owl Emporium, which had been rather dark and full of flickering jewel-bright eyes. There had been so many owls to choose from, so many different types. Finally, Jade had selected a beautiful ebony-colored owl whose black feathers shone blue in the light. Her eyes were a gorgeous sapphire blue. Jade promptly decided that the owl's name would be Athena, named after the Greek Goddess of Wisdom, whose sacred animal was the owl.

As they walked out, Jade stammered slightly as she thanked Hagrid; all her life she'd loved owls… and now she actually had one of her own! It was all too much to believe. Since she was still carrying her cake from Hagrid, Snape carried the owl in its cage for her. Once they'd exited the shop, Hagrid bid them goodbye, saying he'd see them at Hogwarts.

Lastly, Jade found out, they would be stopping for her wand at a place called Ollivanders. She wondered what kind of wand she'd be getting.

When they walked in, Snape seated himself in the single chair in the room to wait, setting the owl cage down beside him. Jade herself stood still in the middle of the room, hands folded as she looked around, waiting for the shop owner to make his appearance.

"Good afternoon," said a soft voice from off to her side, making her jump, startled. She turned to see the source of the voice, an old man watching her with wide, pale eyes which shined like moons.

Jade collected herself quickly. "Good afternoon," she said back to him, her tone polite.

"Ah yes," the man said. "Yes, yes. I thought I'd be seeing you soon. Jade Potter." It wasn't a question; the man could obviously tell who she was just by looking at her. "You look much like your mother… if you would just shorten the hair and change the color, I'd swear that it was a young miss Lily Evans standing in front of me now. It seems only yesterday she was in here herself, buying her first wand. Ten and a quarter inches long, swishy, made of willow. Nice wand for charm work."

Mr. Ollivander moved closer to Jade, and she was slightly unnerved by his wide, unblinking gaze.

"Your father, on the other hand, favored a mahogany wand. Eleven inches. Pliable. A little more power and excellent for transfiguration. Well, I say your father favored it – it's really the wand that chooses the wizard or witch, of course."

Mr. Ollivander had come so close that he and Jade were almost nose to nose, and Jade could see herself reflected in those misty eyes.

"And that's where…"

Mr. Ollivander touched the lightning scar on Jade's forehead with a long, white finger. A look of regret flashed in his eyes.

"I'm sorry to say I sold the wand that did it," he said softly. "Thirteen-and-a-half inches. Yew. Powerful wand, very powerful, and in the wrong hands… well, if I'd known what that wand was going out in the world to do…"

Jade shook her head before speaking. "I can see what you're saying, Sir, but it wasn't your fault that the wand was misused."

"Yes well…" At that moment he spotted Snape. "Ah, Severus! How good it is to see you again… It was no surprise for me when I heard you'd become Potions Master at Hogwarts. I still remember your wand… Birch, fourteen inches, stiff. A perfect wand for potions-use, among other things."

Snape nodded, allowing a small smile to grace his pale face. "Yes, you always did have a remarkable memory to remember all that you sell like that."

Jade, meanwhile, had wandered over to the sales counter, as something on it had caught her attention. "What is this?" she asked, gesturing to the large, beautiful red-and-gold father laying there.

A grieved look came over Mr. Ollivander's face. "Less than an hour ago, another student… Neville Longbottom, I think his name was… came in here to purchase his wand. He accidentally knocked over a stack of boxed wands and when he attempted to help me pick them up, one of them went under his foot. The wand promptly snapped but I was luckily able to save the core, this phoenix feather."

Before anyone could stop her, Jade picked up the feather to admire its beauty. All three people in the room were surprised when the feather started glowing a luminous red color. Jade looked concerned. "Ummm… was that supposed to happen?"

Mr. Ollivander looked surprised. "It seems that that core is meant for you, my dear. Unfortunately, I only have one empty wand right now… I'll be right back."  
The old man hurried into the back room, returning a moment later holding a wand. "This wand is an experimental type… I came up with it only recently. It is meant to focus the energy you put into spells to strengthen them. Oak, twelve inches." He handed it to Jade, who set down the feather and took the wand carefully in her hands to examine. She noticed that there was a small crystal imbedded into its tip as she looked at it. "This…" She said, tapping the crystal very lightly, "is what focuses the spell energy, huh?" Mr. Ollivander nodded. Jade noted that the wand felt warm in her grip. "Is it supposed to feel warm, sir?" she asked.

The old man smiled slightly. "Yes, when it is the wand meant for you. I'll be right back… give me a few minutes." He returned to the back room, taking the feather and wand with him, and returned about ten minutes later with the completed wand in his hands. "Take it and try giving it a wave."

Jade twirled the wand in the air above her and was treated to a shower of red and gold sparks which rained down around her. Snape smirked and clapped lightly as Mr. Ollivander cried out, "Oh, bravo! Yes, indeed, oh, very good. Well, well, well… how curious… how very curious…"

He put Jade's new wand into a nice little black box and wrapped it in brown paper, still muttering, "Curious…curious…"

"Sir?" Jade asked, perplexed. "May I ask… _what's_ so curious?"

Mr. Ollivander fixed Jade with his pale stare. "I remember every wand I've ever sold, Miss Potter. Every single wand. It so happens that the phoenix whose tail feather reacted so well to you, gave another feather – just one other. It is very curious that you were destined for this wand when its brother – why, its brother gave you that scar."

Jade swallowed the lump which had formed in her throat, not noticing the shadow that flickered across Snape's face.

"Yes, thirteen-and-a-half inches. Yew. Curious indeed how these things happen. The wand chooses the witch or wizard, remember… I think we must expect great things from you, Miss Potter… After all, He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named did great things – terrible, yes, but great."

Jade shivered slightly. She paid for her wand and left the shop with Snape, bidding a polite goodbye to Mr. Ollivander.

Outside, Jade looked down at the wand package in her arms, sitting innocently atop the cake box, her brow furrowed.

Snape noticed her concern, and spoke, his voice soft. "I wouldn't worry about it now, Jade."

"Yes…" Jade snapped out of it. "Yes. I'll not concern myself with it just yet."

Shortly after that, Jade was returned to her home by Professor Snape, who handed her her train ticket before bidding her goodbye, saying that he'd see her at Hogwarts and advising her to look over her course books in the time till school started.

That night, as the exhausted-but-happy Jade was unloading her backpack and going through her stuff as she snacked on a piece of the cake Hagrid had made her, she hear a strange sound. A sort of mewling sound.

Searching for the sound, Jade was, needless to say, stunned when she found a small dark grey kitten inside one of her backpack pockets, one which couldn't be more than a week old. Its eyes were even still shut.

Settling the fragile little thing on some of her pillows, Jade went to the medicine cabinet and found an eye dropper, then warmed up some milk in the kitchen and filled up the dropper. Returning to her room, she proceeded to feed the little kitten, wondering at how it had come to be in her bag.

**QS: We're now four chapters into the story… Please, tell me, how do you guys all like Jade? You know, like how do you like her personality, how she looks, etc. As you can probably tell, she and Hermione will be great friends. :) And sorry if Snape's a bit OOC at some parts, but he is hard for me to write, you know. I am making him nice to Jade on purpose, though, because she is very little like her father, and Harry was very like his father, in looks at least. How did you all like the gift he gave her?**

**Oh, and if you all are wondering why she's so polite, well, it's 'cause how she was raised. However… -bratty look- DON'T think this makes her a goody-two-shoes. She can be a major mischief maker underneath it all. Who knows, I may even put in a catfight or two with Pansy Parkinson later in the stories, whaddya think?**

**Did you all like the scene with Draco? I think I got him in-character.**

**The reason I changed Jade's wand is because since she is not Harry, I think she'd have a different wand, but because of the Voldemort factor with the twin phoenix feathers, I was faced with a problem. And just 'cause Jade was born a girl doesn't mean that feather would be put in a different wand. So just think of it this way: It was destiny which pushed Neville into those boxes and guided his foot that day, hehe. That core was meant to go into a new wand. A wand meant for Jade.**

**Oh, and before anyone says anything to me I mighta done wrong about the kitten, please don't correct me, because, as you will find out soon, this is no ordinary kitten. ;P**

**PS: I really wish that someone good at HP fanart could draw me a picture of Jade peeking out shyly from her hiding place behind Snape… it'd be so cute, you know?**

**Well, bye for now!**

**- drags off Lucius and Draco Malfoy, who are both bound by a giant red Christmas bow, all the whilst merrily singing her "Labyrinth" Christmas Carol she made - "We wish you a happy peach dream, we wish you a happy peach dream, we wish you a happy peach dream, and a magickal year! Good tidings we bring from the goblin king… we wish you a happy peach dream, and a magickal year!"**


	5. C5: Werecats & Wizards & Trains, Oh My!

_**Title: Jade Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone**_

_**Author: Queen Serenity**_

_**Fandom: Harry Potter**_

_**Chapter: Five – Werecats and Wizards and Trains, Oh My!**_

The next day was Jade's birthday, and when she came downstairs for breakfast she carried the little kitten in her now-empty backpack. Petunia and Vernon agreed to allow her to keep the kitten, so long as it went with her to Hogwarts.

The day was fun. They spent it going to many of Jade's favorite places, and eating at her favorite seafood restaurant. When no one was looking, Jade broke up a couple of small shrimp from her plate and dropped them into her backpack for the kitten. She wasn't sure if it could eat solids yet, but if it could, she knew it'd like the treats.

For gifts, Jade received assorted jewelry, along with a bunch of hair accessories and some of her favorite tunic-type shirts like the one she'd worn the day she'd gone to Diagon Alley. She was also given a new diary (a dark green leather-bound one) and an empty scrapbook for her to use at her new school. Another present they'd bought her was a large trunk, one which was bronze and, true to Jade's favorite color, green. Lastly, they'd bought her a new cell phone. (Jade knew she couldn't use it in Hogwarts… maybe she'd figure something out, though.) The presents seemed a little less than usual, but Jade didn't mind. She was just glad to be able to spend the day with her family.

There was only a month left until she would be leaving, and Jade was spending as much time with her family as possible. She hung out with Dudley each day, even tolerating his jerk friends, resolving privately that she'd simply turn Piers into a rat as soon as she was able if he bugged her again. Wherever she went, the backpack containing the kitten went with her.

About a week after Jade's birthday, the kitten, which was a female, opened its eyes, startling Jade. The reason she was so startled was that because instead of the usual baby blue that most little kittens have, this particular one had red eyes! It was truly creepy, but kinda cool, too. She was pretty sure that she'd never heard of a cat having red eyes.

And that wasn't the only surprise. As soon as the cat's crimson eyes fixed on her, Jade heard someone call her name.

_Jade._

"What?" Jade looked around her room for the source of the mellow female voice she'd heard. "Who's there?"

_Thank you, Jade. You saved me._

The kitten was still looking at Jade, who was looking confused. Comprehension dawned on her face slowly and she turned to look down at the kitten which sat beside her on the bed. "Don't tell me it was–"

_Yes. It was I who spoke. My mother and I were both illegally captured by a poacher, who had been sitting in that pub where you ate. As the poacher ate, he had the cage covered and sitting under the table… we would have escaped the usual way of our kind, but the cage was enchanted to prevent that. However, because of my small size my mother managed to get me through the bars. I only happened to come across your backpack, and hid there, sensing your good aura. In taking me from that place, and then nursing me afterwards, you saved me._

Jade was, needless to say, taken aback. "You're welcome that I saved you, kitten, but what are you? It's obvious that you are not just a simple cat…"

The kitten's eyes widened in what could only be surprise. _You know not what I am? But you are a witch, are you not? I know I sensed magic in you… powerful magic._

Jade shrugged, blushing slightly. "I'm a witch… well, sort of. I haven't even been to the school yet, and I know little of the magical world, since I was raised by my Muggle family. Surely you must have seen that they were Muggles."

_So I saw. Then I shall forgive your ignorance. I am what is called a werecat, and my name is Solluna. _The kitten stretched, then sat down, tucking her paws under her breast, and closed her eyes as she purred slightly.

"A werecat…" Jade paused, thinking. "Is that kind of like a werewolf?"

Solluna opened her eyes again. _No, not really. The only semblance is that werecats, too, have the ability to change form… _Suddenly as Jade looked at the cat her vision seemed to blur and she blinked to clear it. When she blinked, however, she found a small girl that seemed to be about four or five with shaggy black hair grinning at her. The girl had slanted eyes with red irises, pointed ears, and when she grinned, Jade could see pointed teeth glinting at her. _See? _A moment later the kitten was back, in the same position she had been in before, purring once more.

Jade gawked. "Wow, that's magnificent!" She paused, letting this all sink in, then asked, a bit curious, "So what are you going to do now, Solluna?"

Solluna opened one red eye slightly to look at her. _What do you mean?_

Jade shrugged. "I mean do you want to go with me to Hogwarts, or do you want to go somewhere else, or what? Nothing's holding you to me, you don't have to stay if you don't want to… seeing as how you're intelligent and all, it's not really up to me if I take you to Hogwarts."

Solluna closed the eye again, and flicked the tip of her tail slightly. _As I said, Jade, I sense powerful magick in you… My kind have the ability to see things which others may not. We see what may be. It is part of the reason that we are so sought after by poachers… our eyes are especially valuable to them. I can see that you are destined for certain things, and certain hard choices, and it makes me curious. I think I shall stay with you, if you'll permit it._

Jade nodded. "Of course."

_And now, in partial payment for saving my life, I shall give you a warning, Jade._

_Beware the professor who is not as it seems_

_Beware the weakened but hidden being_

_With true friends by your side, you'll have nothing to fear_

_If you're true to your nature when in front of the mirror…_

Jade's brow furrowed. She took out a piece of paper and asked Solluna to repeat what she'd said, and the kitten complied. Scribbling down the words, Jade stared at them, then back at the cat. "What do you mean? Which professor? What being?"

The cat only purred louder. _I have said all I have to say._

Once Jade's family had seen Solluna's eyes, they were seriously crept out. Jade had went ahead and explained that Solluna wasn't just some ordinary cat. None of them had heard Solluna 'talk', and Solluna had explained to Jade that she wouldn't speak to just anyone; a person had to draw her curiosity or earn her respect first.

Over the next three weeks, as September 1st drew nearer, Solluna grew up quickly to be a bit larger than the average tomcat… Her body was lean, with powerful shoulders and oversized paws. A shaggy silvery mane grew to surround her angular face, and her ears and tail were tufted in silvery fur. Her main incisors had grown greatly and now the two white fangs curved down over her jaw. She was beautiful to Jade, and kept on traveling in Jade's backpack, but Jade's family really did not like this cat, which, to them, looked just plain creepy.

As for Jade's owl… well, she let Athena out of her cage often, and the owl flew in and out of the window as she pleased. She kept bringing back dead mice for Jade as gifts, which kinda grossed Jade out, but Solluna was more than happy to get rid of that problem. It came that the werecat depended on the owl for her food, since she found the cat kibble that Jade had been buying distasteful. The owl was smart enough to realize that in exchange for the mice, Solluna would continue to leave her alone.

On the last day of August Jade reminded her aunt and uncle that tomorrow was the day she'd be leaving, since she would obviously need a ride to the station…

When she showed them the ticket, they looked at the listed platform strangely. Jade assured them that she'd figure it out… it couldn't be that hard.

The next day, Jade woke up very early as she had on the day she'd went with Professor Snape. Again, it felt like Christmas to her… she was just so excited!

She made sure that everything was packed, secured Athena in her cage, and opened up her backpack so that Solluna could climb inside. The cat liked traveling inside the bag, as long as she wasn't jolted, because then she could listen in to things going on.

A couple of hours later, she went downstairs, fully dressed and backpack over her shoulder, to find Petunia cooking breakfast and Vernon and Dudley sitting at the table. Petunia smiled when Jade came in. "Good morning, Jade. Could you take over for me for a bit? I just need to borrow this for a moment…" And so she took a surprised Jade's backpack from her shoulder and left the room, Vernon following her.

When both adults had left the room, Jade went over to tend the bacon and eggs, Dudley watching her. Dudley grinned, able to tell that his cousin was excited, and perhaps a bit nervous.'

"Are you excited, Jade? I bet you they'll teach you all kinds of cool stuff there…"

"Mmm hmm…" Jade replied absentmindedly. She was wondering what the adults had wanted her cat for…

Meanwhile, once they had gotten into the living room, Petunia set the backpack on the chair. A moment later, a werecat's head poked out of the bag to watch them curiously with its seemingly all-knowing eyes.

Petunia bit her lip, feeling silly talking to an animal, even one so strange-looking as this one. She spoke in a low voice. "Listen, cat… err… Solluna. Jade tells us that you're as intelligent as a human, perhaps even more so… So we have a favor to ask you… If you do it, we'll give you your favorite fish when you get back… all that you want."

Solluna cocked her head. What did these Muggles want?

"Well… as you may know, we are very _very _worried about Jade, what with her going off to this school. So, please, could you at least watch out for her?"

Vernon spoke now, gritting his teeth. "I swear, you mangy feline, if you let anything happen to her, I'll-" He was interrupted as Petunia's hand covered his mouth. She looked apologetically at the bemused werecat. "Sorry about that. He doesn't know what he's saying; he's just so worried about our Jade. Anyway, could you? Please?"

The werecat looked backed and forth between the two humans and then, after a moment, she nodded her head in ascent before slipping back into the backpack without a word.

Vernon and Petunia looked at each other; this was all which they could do, really. They made their return to the kitchen, Petunia with the backpack in hand, to curious looks from both Jade and Dudley. Without a word, Petunia set the backpack down by Jade, who proceeded to pass a piece of bacon to the cat inside.

They arrived at the train station around half past ten o'clock. Jade's family wanted to wait with her, but she shooed them back towards the car, saying she'd be fine; there was no use in prolonging the goodbyes… she could already see the tears shining in Petunia's eyes, even as they pulled away.

Jade looked at the platform to her left, number nine. Nothing unusual. Then towards platform ten. Nothing there, either. Then she looked directly ahead of her, where the platform she was to go to should be. She pursed her lips, her brow creasing as she frowned slightly. All that was there was the dividing barrier between nine and ten.

"Where's the platform, Solluna?" she asked, feeling as though she couldn't breathe as fear of missing the train grew inside her.

She felt the werecat shift slightly in the bag on her back. _How should I know?_

She stood there for a minute, thinking, before smiling again. Surely there would be other kids coming… she couldn't be the last to arrive, since it wasn't that late. When they arrived, she'd simply see where they went.

She waited for about fifteen minutes, and was starting to get only slightly nervous when she happened to overhear what the people behind her were saying.

" – packed with Muggles, of course – "

Jade turned quickly, knowing that these people were exactly what she was waiting for; surely it was a real Wizarding family! The person whom she heard speaking was a plump woman who was talking to fours boys, all with flaming red hair. Each boy had a trunk similar to Jade's with him, and they had an _owl_! It seemed she was right; if _this _wasn't a Wizarding family, then she was the Queen of England! And she wasn't!

As the family moved, Jade followed, pushing her cart after them. When they stopped, she heard the little girl holding the woman's hand asking her mother why she couldn't go. From the mother's answer, it seemed that the girl, who turned out to be named Ginny, was too young to go yet.

"Alright, Percy, you go first."

As Jade watched, the oldest boy walked forward with his trunk toward the barrier between the platforms. Just as the boy reached it, a swarm of tourists blocked Jade's view of the boy, but she hadn't needed to see what happened. She had a feeling now what she had to do… the barrier there was probably sort of just an invisible wall, one that you could walk through only if you knew you could. She'd bet her computer that the platform she wanted lay behind that wall.

Now, as she watched, the next two brothers, twins, went through, one at a time. From watching them interact with their mother, Jade could easily tell that these two, whose names were Fred and George, were big jokesters. Watching the two, she could see that her guess was confirmed; they simply walked through the wall there.

But she'd better make sure…

"Umm… excuse me, Ma'am?"

The woman turned to Jade, giving her a cheery smile. "Hello, dear," she said. "First time at Hogwarts? Ron's new, too."

She pointed at the last and obviously youngest of her sons. The boy was tall, thin, and gangly, with freckles, big hands and feet, and a long nose. The boy was gawking slightly at Jade; she shifted uncomfortably. Did she stand out that much?

"Yes," she said, and had to clear her throat. "I was just watching your other sons go through… and I was wondering…"

"How to get onto the platform?" she said kindly, and Jade nodded, blushing. "Yeah, it seems that they just walked through… is that all there is to it?"

The woman nodded. "Exactly, dear. If you're nervous, best do it at a run. Go ahead, go now before Ron."

Jade walked instead of ran toward the barrier, since it would actually make her more nervous to run at it, since her instincts told her that there was nothing but solid wall there. Just before she reached the wall, she closed her eyes, trying not to think of crashing…

And she didn't crash. After a moment, she opened her eyes.

A scarlet steam engine met her eyes. The platform she'd been looking for was here, and boy was it packed with people. A sign confirmed that this was what she'd been trying to find.

Looking around at the bustling crowd, seeing cats of all colors shooting here and there, hearing the owls hooting, Jade felt a great ball of excitement and happiness welling up deep inside her. Pushing her cart, looking for a place to sit, Jade passed a round-faced boy who seemed to have lost his toad again. Listening to the old woman, Jade heard that the boy's name was Neville.

Another boy she passed, one with dreadlocks, was showing off a pet in the box he held, a pet that poked a long, hairy leg out of the box.

Eventually, she found an empty compartment towards the end of the train. Jade put Athena inside first, and set her backpack containing Solluna on the seat. She then started to try to lug her trunk up the steps, but dropped it on her foot and swore. "Bloody hell!"

"Want a hand?"

Jade turned to see the source of the male voice, one of the red-headed twins she'd seen earlier.

She gulped, taking a moment to catch her breath before answering. "Yes, please."

"Oy, Fred! C'mere and help!"

With the twins' help, Jade's trunk was, after some effort, tucked away into a corner of the compartment.

"Thank you," she said, pushing her hair away from her moist forehead.

"What's that?" said one of the twins all of a sudden, pointing at Jade's scar.

"Blimey," said the other twin. "Are you –?"

"She is," said the first twin. "Aren't you?" he added to Jade.

Jade grinned, remembering what she'd been told about people knowing of her. "Jade Lily Potter," she said, winking.

Both boys gawked at her, and Jade felt herself blush. She'd definitely have to get used to people staring at her.

"Fred? George? Are you there?"

"Coming, Mom."

With a last awed glance at Jade, the twins left the compartment.

Sitting down, Jade let Solluna out her backpack, who settled down comfortably on the back of Jade's seat, tucking her paws under her and closing her eyes. She then took out a book she had with her, _Hogwarts, a History_, which she'd been reading for the past week.

Before she could get into her book, though, Jade could overhear the red-headed family outside chatting. The mother was fussing over the youngest brother, who was obviously getting embarrassed and annoyed, and from what Jade could hear, it seemed that the older brother had been made something called a prefect, whatever the heck that was. As she listened, Jade chuckled when she heard the mother telling the twins not to blow up toilets and stuff… it seemed the two were total clowns. She'd be willing to bet that if she was around them much, they'd be giving her quite a few laughs.

She also heard the twins telling their family about who she was. It really seemed that it hadn't been an exaggeration about her fame. As the boys left to get on the train, she heard them tell their crying younger sister, to their mother's horror, that they'd send her a toilet seat. Oh, yeah, these guys were worth a ton of laughs.

A minute later, the compartment door slid open and the boy named Ron came in.

"Mind if I sit there?" the boy asked, pointing at the seat across from Jade. "There's nowhere else to sit."

Jade didn't look up from her book as she answered. "I don't mind at all, go ahead." When the boy sat down, Jade saw him glance at her out of the corner of her eyes.

"Hey, Ron."

The twins were back. One of them told Ron that they were going down to see Lee Jordan's – that must have been the name of the boy with the dreadlocks – giant tarantula.

"Jade," said the other twin, "I don't think we introduced ourselves. Fred and George Weasley. And this is Ron, our brother. See you later, then."

Jade looked up to bid them goodbye, then went back to reading.

A thick silence filled the compartment for a few moments as Jade read and she could feel Ron staring at her.

_He has to blink sometime. _Solluna had obviously opened her eyes slightly to see Ron staring at her mistress.

Jade rolled her eyes. "Yeah, yeah." Closing her book with a sigh, Jade looked up to see that Ron's face had taken on a look like he thought Jade was crazy. She gave him a weird look. "What?"

"Who were you just talking to? I didn't say anything…" Ron looked baffled.

"Oh!" Jade laughed, the jabbed a thumb at the relaxing black werecat behind her head. Ron must not have noticed her because her black fur blended in with Jade's own black hair.

"Oh." Ron looked at Solluna, then jumped as he took a second look. "OH! Blimey, is that a _cat_!"

A low growl filled the compartment, coming from Solluna. Jade laughed and reached back to pat the werecat. "She's not a cat, she's a werecat." She paused for a moment, as though listening to something, before continuing, "she says that she'll forgive you just this once, but if you call her an ordinary cat ever again, she'll scar you for life. Her name's Solluna, by the way."

Ron gulped, seeing the red eyes staring at him, and seeing the long sharp incisors, too. "No offense meant, but she's creepy-looking. Can you please ask her to stop staring?"

After a moment of Jade listening to Solluna again, she answered. "She says that speaking of how people look, you've got a black smudge on your nose, and she also says that she's staring at you no more than you were staring at me." The cat's eyes closed once more, and Jade continued, "Anyway, why _were _you staring at me?"

It took Ron a moment to answer. "Are you really Jade Potter?" He blurted.

Jade nodded and, before Ron could ask, she lifted her bangs to show her scar.

"So that's where You-Know-Who –?"

"Uh huh," said Jade, "but I can only remember it slightly.

"Slightly?" Ron asked, an eager look upon his face.

"Well… I just remember a bright green flash, but that's all."

"Wow," said Ron. As Jade went back to reading her book, she could feel Ron staring at her again, but pushed back at the annoyance nagging at her. The only kid who'd found out her identity who hadn't stared so far had been that boy she'd met before, Draco Malfoy.

After a few minutes, getting sick of Ron staring at her as she read, Jade spoke, not taking her eyes off the book. "Is your whole family wizards, Ron?"

"Yeah, pretty much," said Ron.

"So you must know lots of magic already."

"I heard you were sent to live with some Muggle relatives of yours. What are they like?"

"They're nice enough." Jade set down her book in her lap and took a picture from the pocket of her backpack. "This is them. See? That's Aunt Petunia, that's Uncle Vernon, and that there is my cousin, Dudley."

Ron gave the picture a weird look. "What's wrong with your picture? Why aren't they moving?"

Jade gave a surprised look. "What do you mean? Pictures don't move."

"Ours do."

Figuring she'd see what he meant later, Jade put the picture back and changed the subject. "So what's it like having three wizard brothers?"

"Five, actually," corrected Ron. For some reason, he looked gloomy about it. He proceeded to tell her about all five of his brothers. Bill and Charlie, who no longer lived at home, but had both been successful at school in their own ways, Percy, who was the smart, goody-two-shoes one, and Fred and George, who were smart and funny troublemakers. It was no wonder Ron was so miserable, since he was in the shadow of not just one, but f_ive _brothers! "…You never get anything new, either, with five brothers. I've got Bill's old robes, Charlie's old wand, and Percy's old rat."

Ron reached inside his jacket and pulled out a fat gray rat, which was asleep. He gave Solluna, whose eyes had opened to narrow menacingly at Scabbers, a worried look. "She won't bother him, will she?"

"Not if you ask her nicely not to."

Ron did so, then continued. "Anyway, his name's Scabbers and he's useless, he hardly ever wakes up. Percy got an owl from my dad for being made a prefect, but they couldn't aff – I mean, I got Scabbers instead."

Ron looked embarrassed, like he thought he'd said too much, and went back to staring out the window.

Jade's brow furrowed. It was no big deal if Ron's family was poor, there was nothing wrong with that. Just like it doesn't matter where you're from. All that matters is who you yourself are, and how you and your family treat each other. Even is you have all the money in the world, if you don't have love, then you don't have anything… That's how Jade felt, and that's exactly what she told Ron. This seemed to cheer him up, though he still looked a bit embarrassed. Jade told Ron some more about herself, but when she mentioned Voldemort's name offhand, Ron gasped.

"What?" Jade asked. "It's no big deal. I know, of all people, how scary that man was, _especially _since he killed my parents, but I see NO bloody reason to be scared of a name. That's bloody stupid, is what that is."

Ron looked abashed, and they were silent for a bit, Jade going back to reading her book.

About half past noon a snack cart came. The woman pushing it smiled at them. "Anything off the cart, dears?"

Since she'd barely been able to eat anything this morning because of her excitement, Jade was starving now, and she got to her feet. Ron, however, turned a bit red and muttered that he'd brought sandwiches. Jade went out into the corridor and a look of delight came over her face when she saw the cart; she recognized none of this stuff… it must be wizard candy! It all looked so delicious, and she wanted to not miss out on a bit of it, so she went ahead and got some of everything, paying for it with some of her new wizarding currency.

When Jade lugged it all back into the compartment, she caught Ron staring. He laughed.

"Hungry, are you?"

"Starving," said Jade, looking at it all and trying to decide what to try first. Deciding on a Cauldron Cake, she picked one up and bit into the sweet treat. Behind her, Solluna let out a mental chuckle before speaking. _If you eat all of that yourself, Jade, you're going to blow up like you're having an allergic reaction._

Jade turned slightly to her cat, and swallowed the bite she'd been chewing. "You're right."

She looked at Ron, who was frowning at the sandwich in his hand. "What's wrong?"

"Huh?" He looked up. "Oh, she always forgets I don't like corned beef…"

Jade laughed. "Well, Solluna here says that if I eat all this myself I'll get fat, and she's right… so help me out, would you?"

Ron looked unsure. Jade rolled her eyes. "Go on, have some… please?"

Once Ron had dug in, Jade held up a package she'd been curious about. "I just wanna make sure… these Chocolate Frogs don't have _real _frogs in them, do they?"

"Naw," said Ron. "But see what the card is. I'm missing Agrippa."

"Huh?"

Ron explained to Jade about Wizard Cards. When she unwrapped her card and saw the name under the picture, she gasped.

"Hey! This is the guy who sent me my letter… the Hogwarts Headmaster!"

Together, Ron and Jade made there way through most of the candy. The rest, which was mostly smaller stuff that was left, Jade put in the pocket of her backpack.

Not much later, the compartment door slid open. A girl with bushy brown hair poked her head in. "Has anyone seen a toad? Neville's lost one," she said. Her observant eyes widened when they fell upon Solluna. "_Wow_! Is that a real werecat? I read that they're _really _rare. I didn't even know that they could be kept as pets."

Jade giggled. "She's not my pet, she's my friend and familiar, and her name's Solluna."

"Well, she's _beautiful_." At these words, Solluna started preening herself, obviously pleased with the compliment.

Jade stood. "We haven't seen the toad, but I'd be happy to help look for him." She turned to Solluna. "You coming?"

Nodding her head, Solluna leapt nimbly up into Jade's arms.

The bushy haired girl suddenly seemed to remember something. "Sorry, I forgot to introduce myself. I'm Hermione Granger."

"Ron Weasley," Ron muttered.

Jade grinned. "And I'm Jade Lily Potter, but you can just call me Jade."

"Wow, are you really?" asked Hermione. "I've read all about you, in all kinds of books!"

"Really?" Jade asked. "I knew that I was well-known, but not enough to be in books!"

"Well, we had better get looking for Neville's toad."

"Uh huh."

The two girls split up to look. In one compartment, Jade saw the twins and the boy with the dreadlocks fiddling around with a tarantula, but none of them had seen Neville's toad.

In another compartment, Jade came across a familiar face. "Draco!" She said, "so we meet again."

Draco gave an arrogant grin. "So we do." His eyes widened when he saw Solluna. "Is that a _werecat_?"

"Uh huh, and her name's Solluna. I helped her out as a kitten and she's been with me since… By the way, Draco, have you seen a toad? There's one hopping around somewhere around here…"

Draco rolled his eyes. "I've already told Longbottom that I haven't seen his stupid toad. Why are you helping him, anyway?"

Jade shrugged. "Why not? I wasn't really that busy, and the boy needed help. Nothing's wrong with that." She eyed his companions, two hulking boys that reminded her too much of Dudley's idiot friends. She knew the type; lackeys. The two combined probably had an IQ of maybe 42. If that.

Draco noticed her looking at them. "Jade, allow me to introduce you to my companions, Vincent Crabbe and Gregory Goyle. You can just call them Crabbe and Goyle. Crabbe, Goyle, meet the famed Jade Potter."

"Uh, yeah, um… hi." Jade said. Crabbe, who for some reason had his hands together in his lap, croaked in reply. Or at least it came from his direction. Jade narrowed her eyes. "What was that?"

"Umm… I cleared my throat," said Crabbe, sounding quite stupid.

Jade was skeptical. "Uh huh." Solluna leapt nimbly down from Jade's arms to the floor of the compartment. Extending her claws, she swiped Crabbe's closed hands, leaving two bloody trails. Crabbe yelped and opened his hands, releasing an extremely terrified toad, which Jade quickly caught before it leapt away. She chuckled. "My friend here doesn't like it when people lie to me." She then turned to Draco, frowning. "You know, that wasn't very nice, Draco. I don't like it when people lie to me, either."

Draco shrugged, looking nonchalant. "Longbottom shouldn't have lost it in the first place. If it hadn't hopped in here, we wouldn't have got it, now would we?"

Jade shook her head. "Whatever. I'd better return this."

Draco stood. "As a way of apologizing, let me walk you there and back to your own compartment."

"That'd be nice." Jade looked at the toad in her hands, then at Solluna, then at Draco. "If you're coming with me, you may as well make yourself useful. You can either carry Neville's toad here, or you can carry Solluna. It's your choice."

Draco looked at the toad being held harmlessly in Jade's hands, and then at the werecat glaring up at him with her crimson eyes. He gulped. "Um… I'll take the toad, I think."

Jade smirked. "Thought so." She handed over the toad, picked up Solluna, and they left the compartment.

When they returned the toad, Neville was so grateful that he was in tears. Draco looked to be about to make some smart-aleck comment, but was stopped when Jade trod hard on his foot, then gave him an innocent look. He offered to go ahead and walk her back to her own compartment.

As they walked, they talked about multiple things. One of these things was school houses, and which ones they'd prefer to be in.

"I'll be in Slytherin, of course," Draco said with a grin. "Just like my mother, my father, my grandfather, and so on."

"Hmm…" Jade tapped her chin. "I'm not that worried, 'cause I know they'll probably put me in the house best suited to me, but I'm thinking that I'd probably do well in either Ravenclaw or Slytherin, you know?"

"Yeah, you'd be good in either one of those houses. I'd be glad to have you in Slytherin."

As they talked some more, of their hobbies and stuff, Jade learned that one of Draco's favorite things were Quidditch. When she heard this, a thought occurred to Jade. She grinned and set Solluna down for the moment. "Watch this, Draco."

She tapped the choker fastened now around her neck three times, watching as it transformed once more into a Snitch and fluttered around both of their heads. Grinning at Draco's look of surprise, she said, "Shadari!" It returned to land limply in her palm, once more a necklace which she promptly fastened back around her neck.

"Wow! Where'd you get that?"

Jade smiled innocently, picking Solluna up once more. "It was a birthday gift. It's the first wizard gift I've ever received."

When Draco asked about her hobbies, Jade thoughts for a moment… she couldn't really say that she liked working on the computer, since he probably wouldn't know what that was… she ended up telling him that she liked reading, writing, and practicing martial arts. Turned out he didn't know what martial arts was, either.

Jade searched for a way to explain it. "It's sort of a form of fighting using your body, but it's also about inner balance, and stuff like that."

Draco snorted. "Hmph. Muggle fighting. It's so… primitive. Wizards don't need that; they fight with wands."

At this, Jade smirked grimly. "I'd like to hear you say that when you can't get to your wand for some reason."

About then, they reached Jade's compartment. "This is my stop," she said. She poked her head inside, and Ron looked up, looking to be glad that she was back. "Hey Ron, have you met my companion, Draco Malfoy?"

The glad look faded off Ron's face as Draco came into the compartment, too, as Jade settled back down into her seat. Draco sneered at Ron. "No need for her to tell me _your _name. Red hair, hand me down clothes… My father told me of your family. From what he says, all the Weasleys have red hair, freckles, and more children then they can afford."

Jade looked from Draco's sneering face, then to Ron, who was turning steadily pink, and then back at Draco again. She frowned and shook her head, then stood, ushering Draco out as she spoke. "If you're going to say rude stuff, Malfoy, then don't speak. It's distasteful and it _definitely _doesn't become you." With this, she closed the compartment door in Draco's surprised face before he could say a word.

There was silence as Jade pulled out her school robes and slipped them on over her clothes, knowing they'd be arriving soon.

"You didn't have to do that," Ron muttered, looking embarrassed.

Jade shrugged. "It was no biggy. I won't tolerate rudeness, especially when it's to one of my friends."

Ron looked surprised. "One of your… friends?"

Now it was Jade's turn to look surprised. "Of course. Unless, of course, you don't want to be."

Before Ron could answer, Hermione Granger came back in and sat by Jade. She looked at Ron. "You'd better hurry and get changed soon, it's not long until we arrive. I asked the conduc-"

Before she could finish, the compartment door opened yet again and two girls entered, a normal-sized one and a tall one who was built more like a boy. The normal sized one had black hair done in pigtails and dark eyes, and she had a pug face. The girl looked curiously and a bit snobbishly at Jade.

"We heard the Potter girl was in here… everyone's talking about her," was what she said. Her squinted eyes fell on Jade. "You're her, aren't you?"

Jade could feel a headache coming on. Why couldn't everyone just leave her alone? She sighed. "Yeah, that's me. And you are?"

"I'm Pansy Parkinson," the girl said, then gestured to the hulking girl-that-looked-way-too-masculine behind her. "And this is Millicent Bulstrode." She surveyed the other two occupants of the compartment, and made a disgusted face. She looked at Jade with pity. "Poor girl. You must have had nowhere else to sit, huh? No one would _choose _to sit with people like this… why don't you come up and hang out at my compartment until we get to Hogwarts? I'm sure we can make room for you."

"No," said Jade, feeling annoyed. "I chose to sit here. What's wrong with that?"

"Oh!" said Pansy, and she laughed. "I'd heard you were Muggle-raised, but I didn't know it was true. I'll forgive you because you obviously don't know that it's bad form to be seen hanging around with certain people."

Jade didn't like where this was going. "Certain people?"

"Oh, you know, Muggle-borns and families that have no class, like the Weasleys. Tell you what, I'll help you make some _worthwhile _friends. If you play your cards right, I may even be one of them." Both Hermione and Ron looked outraged at this, but Jade held up her hand to stop them from saying anything.

She took a deep breath. She didn't like this girl. She really did not like this girl. "Listen, Parkinson, I don't need to be shown which friends are worthwhile. I consider myself a good judge of character. These two would be worthwhile friends. _You_, however, would not. Please return to your own compartment."

Pansy puffed up, offended and looking more like a pug-nosed dog than ever. "And what if we don't feel like leaving?" Beside her, Millicent crossed her arms, looking intimidating. Jade wasn't intimidated. She nudged the resting werecat on the back of her seat gently with the back of her head, and Solluna leapt down gracefully to sit in Jade's lap. She stared at the two intruders, and Jade smiled innocently.

"Oh, I'm sorry, I forgot to introduce you to this friend of mine… her name's Solluna, and she says that you're disturbing her rest."

Solluna kept staring, looking intimidating with her tail flicking and her long main teeth curving over her jaw. Pansy let out an eep and made a quick retreat, but not without shooting Jade an extremely nasty look. Millicent followed.

After that, Hermione shot Jade a grateful look, then turned to Ron. "Aren't you going to change into your robes?"

Ron looked annoyed. "Aren't you going to go back to your own compartment?"

"All right – I only came in here because people outside are behaving very childishly, racing up and down the corridors," said Hermione huffily. "And you've got dirt on your nose, by the way, did you know?"

Ron glared at her as she left.

Not long after that, they arrived at their destination. Leaving their luggage on the train as instructed, everyone made their way out to stand on a tiny, dark platform. Jade shivered slightly from the cold and hoisted the backpack containing Solluna more securely onto her shoulder; the werecat had outright refused to be left with the luggage like any common pet or familiar. A lamp came bobbing over the heads of the students, and Jade heard a familiar voice: "Firs' years! Firs' years over here! Made it all right, Jade?"

Hagrid's big hairy face beamed over the sea of heads.

"C'mon, follow me – any more firs' years? Mind yer step, now! Firs' years follow me!"

Everyone followed Hagrid, and Jade quickly lost Ron as she moved along in the crowd, trying to keep on her feet as they all made their way down a steep, narrow path.

"Yeh'll get yer firs' sight o' Hogwarts in a sec," Hagrid called over his massive shoulder, "jus' round this bend here."

When they rounded the said bend, Jade gave a sharp intake of breath. Solluna poked her head out, concerned. _Is something the matter?_

Jade shook her head in answer, her eyes having a sort of glazed look about them. "No, it's just that… I've never seen anything so beautiful! I can't believe that's where I'll be living and learning for the next seven years… I'm gonna have to take a picture to show Dudley," she giggled slightly, a bratty look on her face, "he'll be so jealous when he sees. My school… is a castle! Wow!"

Solluna rolled her eyes in a rather human-like gesture. _Humans, how easily you are amused_. She slipped her head back into the knapsack.

Whether Solluna acknowledged it or not, the view _was _breathtaking. Before their eyes was a great lake, its dark waters reflecting the starry night overhead. On the opposite side of the lake was a high mountain, upon which was a huge castle with more turrets and towers than Jade's dazzled eyes could count.

It was amazing.

They all made their ways down to a fleet of boats waiting at the shore. Jade ended up sharing a boat with the boy who kept losing his toad, Neville Longbottom, along with Hermione Granger and a girl with short-cut strawberry-blonde hair and aqua-colored eyes.

As the boats made their way to the other side of the river, the girl introduced herself. It turned out that she was an American recently moved to London, and that her name was Lisa Turpin.

As the boat made its way toward its destination, the three girls chatted whilst poor Neville nervously tried to keep hold of his toad, for fear that it would leap into the lake and be lost to him.

Hermione, Jade quickly found out, was as new to the Wizarding world as she was, but for a far different reason… Hermione had neither wizard mother nor wizard father; she was a Muggle-born. Hearing this, Jade had the distinct feeling that Draco would look down on Hermione for this.

As for Lisa, her parents had both went to Hogwarts as students. Lisa herself had been raised in America, but her family had moved back to London recently, as her parents wished her to go to Hogwarts, as well.

Lisa wanted to be in Ravenclaw, as her parents had been, but Hermione was quite undecided; she wanted to be in either Gryffindor or Ravenclaw… she'd heard that Slytherins were quite nasty, and Hufflepuff was where leftovers went.

Jade was overjoyed when she found out that Hermione loved reading and learning as much as her, if not more, and she was quite fascinated with magic, already learning as much as she could from books about it.

The boats carried them through a hidden opening in the face of a cliff, and then through an underground tunnel that took them underneath the castle. Finally, they landed at a sort of underground harbor.

As Jade and the other three students stepped from the boat, Jade noticed something in the boat and rolled her eyes, picking it up. "Oy! Neville!"

"Huh?" The boy looked back, and Jade held up the toad, grinning. "I think this is yours."

"Trevor!" Neville took the toad from her and clutched the poor thing maybe a bit too tightly to his chest. "Quit running off!"

Jade, Hermione, and Lisa made their way with the other students up a long flight of stone steps, following Hagrid until they reached a huge, oaken door that they all crowded around.

Hagrid raised his meaty fist and knocked on the huge door three times, sounding out three resounding booms.

As the door opened, Jade felt the anticipation within mounting until it was almost unbearable…

What adventures awaited her in Hogwarts?

**QS: Hey, all. I hope you like this chapter… I think it's the longest one I've had so far. It exceeds 7000 words. As you can see, I put a bunch in here that is completely original, as in not from the Harry Potter book. The creature, werecat, is not an original creature, I admit. Have any of you read Eragon? That's where I got the creature, though I may make a few alterations to its abilities here and there to suit my needs. Solluna, though, it original… and I'll tell you this: I had a heck of a time trying to figure out a good name for her. The werecat in Eragon is male and is named Solembum, I think. Anyway, I hope you all like this chapter, but, even if you don't, PLEASE be sure and review! I love reviews!**

**If you can't picture how she looks, then if you've seen it, picture Kirara (big form) from Inuyasha, but smaller.**

**Oh, BTW, tell me… what's your fave part so far?**


	6. C6: The Sorting Ceremony

**Title: Jade Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone**

_**Author: Queen Serenity**_

_**Fandom: Harry Potter**_

_**Chapter: Six – The Sorting Ceremony**_

The door swung open not two moments after Hagrid knocked. A tall woman with black hair stood there; she was wearing emerald-green robes which Jade thought quite beautiful when she laid eyes on them. The woman's face was quite stern; she was obviously not someone that Jade would want to cross.

"The firs' years, Professor McGonagall," Hagrid said.

Professor McGonagall's gaze swept over the students, her gaze lingering for just a moment on Jade. "Thank you, Hagrid. I will take them from here." With this, she pulled the door wide open.

The entrance hall, Jade thought, was huge; she practically felt like a mouse in it. The Dursley's whole house could have fit in it with room to spare. The light in the room was provided by the many flaming torches on the walls, and the ceiling was so high up that Jade couldn't make out any detail of it. Facing them was a magnificent marble staircase which let to the upper floors. As Jade herself looked around, she could feel Solluna shift slightly in her backpack as the werecat peeked out through the bag's opening to see.

_This place… is big, isn't it, Jade?_

Jade nodded and muttered, "Tell me about it."

The crowd of students all followed Professor McGonagall across the flagged stone floor. Jade could hear tons of voices through a doorway to the right, but that's not where the professor took them; instead, she led them into a small, empty chamber off the hall. Once in, they all stood closer to each other than they normally would have, obviously rather nervous.

Professor McGonagall than proceeded to welcome them all to Hogwarts, and to explain to them that before joining the other students they must be sorted into their respective houses. She went on to explain more about the houses, listing them off and such.

Before leaving the room, she told them that the Sorting Ceremony would start in a few minutes, and suggested to them that they smarten up.

Once Professor McGonagall left the room, Jade turned to look at Hermione, who looked rather nervous.

"I do wonder how they'll sort us," the bushy-haired girl said, biting her lip slightly. "Maybe they'll test us on spells. I've learned a few already, and if that's the case, then I do hope that I know the right ones."

Jade smiled slightly, despite her own anxiety. "It's nothing like that. I read in _Hogwarts, a History _that there's this old hat called the Sorting Hat. At the ceremony, you wear it and it looks into your mind to decide which house you'd be best suited for."

Hermione brightened a bit. "Really?"

Jade nodded. "Uh huh. Still, I wonder if it's ever made a mistake and misplaced someone…"

Her train of thought was interrupted at what happened next. Jade jumped about a foot in the air because of it; about twenty pearly-white but transparent ghosts had streamed through the back wall. They appeared to be arguing… arguing about someone named Peeves.

"My dear Friar, haven't we given Peeves all the chances he deserves? He gives us all a bad name and you know, he's not really even a ghost – I say, what are you all doing here?" The one who had been speaking, a ghost wearing a ruff and tights, had suddenly noticed the first years.

Nobody answered them.

"New students!" said another ghost, the Fat Friar. He smiled around at them. "About to be Sorted, I suppose?"

A few people nodded mutely.

"Hope to see you in Hufflepuff!" the jovial ghost said. "My old house, you know."

"Move along now," a sharp voice cut through the astonishment the first years felt, seeing ghosts. "The Sorting Ceremony is about to start."

Professor McGonagall had returned. One by one, the ghosts left the room, floating through the wall opposite of that through which they came.

"Now, form a line," Professor McGonagall instructed them, "and follow me."

Jade couldn't help it… maybe it was all the excitement getting to her, but she suddenly felt a wave of anxiety; she couldn't breathe, it seemed, and her legs had turned to lead… she was barely able to force herself to get into line between Hermione and Lisa.

_Jade?_

"Hmm?"

_Calm down. You have no reason to be nervous… okay? _It was obvious that the werecat was worried about her.

Jade swallowed the lump in her throat and forced herself to murmur a reply to her familiar, "You don't have to worry, Solluna, I'll be fine."

_Who said I was worried? I just do not want you fainting and perhaps falling on me._

Rolling her eyes, Jade followed Hermione as they all walked out of the chamber, back across the hall, and through a pair of double doors into the Great Hall.

Once inside, Jade had to catch her breath; this was just like a scene out of one of her fantasy-adventure books! It was beyond her wildest dreams… The room (if it could be called that… it was big enough to fit several houses in it) was lit by thousands and thousands of candles, floating in midair over four long tables, where all the older students were sitting. The tables were laid with glittering golden plates and goblets. At the end of the hall was another huge table, this one with the teachers seated at it. This was where Professor McGonagall led the first years, halting them in a line facing the other students, the teacher's table behind them. The hundred of faces staring at the new students looked eerily like pale lanterns in the flickering candlelight. Here and there among the students, the ghosts shined like moonlight streaming through fog, adding to the eerie look of the place. Curious and anxious all at once, Jade studied her surroundings, looking up and seeing a velvety black veiling dotted with glittering stars; staring up at it, she remembered reading about it in _Hogwarts, a History_, and dimly heard Hermione whispering to Lisa about it, since she'd had seen it in that particular book when she glanced at it in the bookshop.

Staring up, Jade was amazed at the enchantment… it looked _so _real. It was hard to believe that there was even a ceiling there; she wondered what it looked like when it rained.

Tearing her gaze away from the beautiful ceiling, Jade looked down again to see Professor McGonagall place a four-legged stool in front of the first years. On top of the stool she put a pointed wizard's hat, obviously the one which Jade had read about. The hat was all patched up, and was frayed and quite dirty. Jade giggled to think of what Petunia's reaction would be if she saw it… though with how old the hat looked, it'd probably fall apart if anyone even put it near a washing machine.

For a few seconds, there was complete silence as everyone stared at the battered old hat. The hat twitched, then a rip near the brim opened like a mouth, and the hat began to sing. In the song, it told about itself, and about each of the houses, and, when it finished, everyone burst into applause. As the hat bowed to each of the tables, Hermione turned to Jade and grinned, whispering.

"It looks like you were right. I only had a chance to glance at it at the bookstore, but I really shall have the check out a copy of that book from the library here."

Jade nodded, whispering back. "You should… it's quite fascinating, really."

Professor McGonagall stepped forward, holding a long roll of parchment. She adjusted her reading glasses, surveying them all. "When I call your name, you will put on the hat and sit on the stool to be sorted," she said. "Abbot, Hannah!"

It was only a moment that the girl had had the hat on her head before the hat shouted, "HUFFLEPUFF!" The table of Hufflepuffs cheered and clapped as the girl went over to them.

It was in this manner that several more names were called out, and the students were sorted into their respective houses.

Watching, Jade noticed that while sometimes the hat placed people very quickly, sometimes it took a minute. Probably, she figured, because it had to figure out which traits in that particular person were strongest.

"Granger, Hermione!"

Hermione moved quickly and excitedly towards the stool, almost running, and shoved the hat eagerly on her head. Once it was on her head, it took a minute for the hat to decide, but then it finally shouted out, "RAVENCLAW!"

Spotting Ron, Jade thought she spied a look of relief upon his face.

Neville, the boy who kept losing his toad, tripped on the way to the stool. It took several minutes for him to be placed, and when the hat finally shouted out Gryffindor, he accidentally ran off with it. A sheepish look was on his face as he jogged back up to give it to the next person.

As Malfoy had predicted, he was placed in Slytherin… the hat had barely even had to touch his head before it called out his house. As he walked to his respective table, smirking arrogantly, he winked at Jade as he passed her. He joined his lackeys Crabbe and Goyle, looking rather pleased with himself.

Several more people were sorted, and then, almost surprising Jade –

"Potter, Jade!"

When Jade stepped forward, whispers suddenly broke out like little hissing fires all over the hall. She felt herself blush in embarrassment, and felt a twinge of annoyance as she could hear the whispers.

"_Potter, _did she say?"

"_The _Jade Potter?"

The scene Jade glimpsed before the hat blocked her vision was everyone in the hall straining to get a better look at her. Then all was dark. She waited, expectant.

"Hmm," a small voice said in her ear. "A difficult one to place, you are, Jade Potter. I see plenty of courage, but it's not the usual blind kind… no, your eyes see very much. You're very observant, with an excellent mind. Oh, my goodness, there's much power here… talent and power, yes – and you've got a nice thirst to prove yourself, I see… very interesting… So where shall I put you?"

Jade shrugged slightly, thinking. _I dunno. Isn't it your job to figure it out? Wherever I'd be best suited for._

"Well, let's see… You're not for Gryffindor; you have courage, and you're rather righteous… you could get along fine there, but you'd never become the best you could be."

_Well, then, I don't wanna be there, of course…_

_"_You're not for Hufflepuff, no, definitely not Hufflepuff. You would go to waste there, too. Perhaps Slytherin? You'd find the means to much power there…"

_As I said, whichever I'd be best suited for. I was thinking either that or perhaps –_

"Yes, yes, that'd be perfect for you! With your inquisitive mind and keen eye, and your philosophy, 'knowledge is power', you're perfect for RAVENCLAW!"

The last word was shouted out to the hall, and Jade grinned. As she took off the hat and walked over to the Ravenclaw table, getting the loudest cheer yet, she heard her familiar in her mind again.

_See? I told you that you would be fine._

Jade rolled her eyes as she sat down. "Who said I was worried?" she muttered back.

The cheering at her table continued for a minute, everyone grinning at Jade, before the noise died down.

Now that she was sitting, Jade could see the High Table properly. At one end sat Hagrid, who caught Jade's eye and gave her the thumbs up sign. In the center of the High Table sat the headmaster, Albus Dumbledore. Jade recognized him from the card she'd gotten on the train. Dumbledore's silver hair was the only thing in the room which shone as brightly as the ghosts. At his left, in stark contrast, sat the dark and gloomy-looking Professor Snape, looking for all the world as though he wished he were anywhere else but here. Jade caught his eye, and nodded her head in greeting, and he subtly nodded his head back. Lastly, she noticed Professor Quirrell, that nervous young professor who Jade had refused to touch. He looked quite odd in a large purple turban.

Lisa Turpin ended up being sorted into Ravenclaw as she'd predicted. She came to sit by Jade so that Jade was between her and Hermione.

After that was Ron's turn. Jade watched as the second youngest Weasley made his way up to the hat, his red hair contrasting sharply with his now pale green face. A couple of seconds passed, then the hat shouted out Gryffindor.

After the last person was placed, Jade looked down at her empty plate, her stomach rumbling slightly. She realized suddenly how hungry she was, and how very long ago the train treats seemed.

The headmaster had gotten to his feet. He welcomed them all, seeming to mean it, and said a few odd words. When he sat back down, everyone clapped and cheered. A moment later, the dishes on the table became piled with food. Jade's jaw dropped; she'd never seen so much good stuff to eat on one table! Not even when she'd been taken to her favorite restaurants!

Piling her plate high with the delicious food, Jade dug in. A few minutes later, Jade heard something; the sound of appreciative sniffing coming from her bag, which she had set beside her upon the floor.

A moment later, Solluna poked her head out of the bag, and her body quickly followed as she climbed out. After taking a moment to stretch, she got up on her hind legs, putting her paws in Jade's lap and staring up at her. _You know, you are not the only one around here who is hungry… or need I remind you?_

Giggling slightly, Jade plucked a small steak from one of the dishes she could reach and passed it down to Solluna. "Here ya go. Enjoy."

As the werecat obligingly dug in, Jade had the weirdest feeling that someone was staring at her. Looking around, she found that dog-faced girl, Pansy Parkinson, the new Slytherin, staring at her and Solluna. A devious look came over the girl's face and she got up, going over to the High Table to whisper something in Snape's ear.

Looking startled, Professor Snape looked towards Jade's feet, spotting a happily munching Solluna. Shooting Jade an inquisitive look, Snape moved over to mutter in Dumbledore's ear, and then Solluna had Dumbledore's eyes on her, as well.

After everyone had finished eating, and a rather full Solluna had returned to the backpack, the food faded and then desserts appeared! Jade helped herself to her favorite dessert, strawberries and whipped cream.

As they were eating, Jade, Lisa, and Hermione started talking about the house ghosts. Jade and Hermione knew nothing about them, really, but Lisa had been told about them by her parents. First, she told them about the Grey Lady, their own resident ghost, and then Nearly Headless Nick, the Gryffindor ghost, then the Fat Friar, the Hufflepuff ghost, and, lastly, she pointed at a creepy-looking ghost at the Slytherin table. The ghost had blank staring eyes, a gaunt face, and robes stained with silver blood. Jade felt sorry for Malfoy, who was seated right next to him, and looked not too pleased at the seating arrangements. "That's the Bloody Baron," she said. "No one knows how on earth he got covered in blood, and everyone's too afraid to ask. He's pretty much the only one able to keep the castle's poltergeist, Peeves, in line."

After that, they talked about lessons, and what they each were looking forward to the most.

Jade, who was starting to feel very full and warm and sleepy, glanced up at the high table again. Snape looked just as grim as ever, even as he was engaged in talked to Quirrell. Watching them, Jade suddenly felt a sharp pain in her forehead, as though someone had pressed a hot iron to her scar.

_What's wrong? _Solluna asked when Jade pressed her fingertips to her scar. The werecat sensed her mistress's distress.

"Nothing," Jade mumbled. She'd figure it out later.

When the desserts were finished, Dumbledore got to his feet again, and made several announcements. After that, everyone sang the school song. After that, he dismissed them, and everyone stood, ready to make their ways to their respective dorms. Jade, picking up her bag and shouldering it, started to follow Hermione and Lisa, but was stopped by a hand on her shoulder.

She turned to see Dumbledore gazing at her, a twinkle in his eye. Looking over at Pansy, Jade saw the girl throw a malicious grin over her shoulder as she followed the rest of her house out of the room.

"Care to have a talk with me, Miss Potter?" His voice sounded cheery, and no indication that she was in trouble rested in it.

"Ummm… sure, Sir." She replied, a bit nervous. Her first night here, and she was already having to have a one-on-one chat with the headmaster!

Once everyone was out of the Great Hall, Dumbledore motioned for her to sit down. Jelly-legged, she did.

"So," he began, comfortably. "May I see it?"

"Huh?" Jade asked, blankly.

"The werecat. Please. Could you let it out so that I may meet it?"

Jade shrugged. "Sure." Obligingly, she let Solluna out, and the werecat sat on the table, her crimson eyes staring up at Dumbledore inquisitively.

For several minutes of uncomfortable silence, Dumbledore and the cat stared at each other. Then he smiled slightly. "You do know," he said, "that werecats are not on the approved list of familiars?"

Jade nodded, and started to speak, but Dumbledore interrupted her. "However," he continued, "it's mainly because werecats are so rare, and they can't be tamed. They're far too intelligent to be tamed, if you understand my meaning. Sometimes, though, they pick a master or mistress, or, more specifically, a companion. A friend. And, when they do, the werecat stays loyal to the end. I see no reason why Solluna cannot stay here with you… in fact, she insists that she is allowed to go with you to your classes." He smiled reassuringly. "She says that you saved her. I give her special permission to remain here with you, at Hogwarts, and to go with you wherever you wish her to go. Alright?"

Numbly, Jade nodded. Glancing at Solluna, Jade could've sworn that it appeared as thought the familiar has smirked. The werecat climbed back into the backpack, and Jade shouldered it.

"Since I kept you, I'll show you to your dorm, Jade."

He led her down several corridors, through many twists and turns, and then to the hall containing the library. Here, on the left wall, was a small painting of a young girl seated under a tree, absorbed in a book. When Dumbledore approached, she looked up, irritated at having been interrupted.

"Password?" she inquired.

Dumbledore smiled obligingly. "Chaotic tranquility."

The painting swung forward and, waving goodbye to Dumbledore, Jade climbed through the hole revealed. Once through, she found herself in the Ravenclaw common room.

The room was quite beautiful. The walls were all lined with bookcases, except for where the doors leading to the dorms were. Everything was all done up in deep blue, and had a very tranquil, soothing quality about it. There were several squashy armchairs, two long tables for studying and a fireplace with a merrily crackling fire in it. The Ravenclaw prefect, Penelope, had waited up for Jade, and pointed her towards the girls' dormitory.

Once in, Jade saw five four-poster beds hung with deep blue, velvet curtains. Four of the beds' curtains were drawn shut already, as the other girls had already gone to bed. Jade went to the only remaining bed, which had her trunk by it, and let Solluna out of the backpack onto the bed. Quickly changing into her pajamas, Jade made her way into bed, curling up under the soft covers. With her familiar curled up contently on the pillow beside her, Jade fell asleep, exhausted and happy.

Some of the stuff Jade had eaten hadn't mixed with each other, it seemed, as she had a rather odd dream. She was wearing that hideous turban of Professor Quirrell's. It kept talking to her, saying she must transfer immediately to Slytherin, 'cause it was her destiny. Jade argued, saying that she'd trust the Sorting Hat's judgment; that was, after all, the job of the Sorting Hat, and not this turban. As she argued with it, it got heavier and heavier, falling over her eyes and obscuring her vision. Then, she was able to lift it a little and saw Solluna in front of her, her crimson eyes glowing creepily. "Stay true to your reflection," the werecat mouthed, gesturing to behind Jade. Still struggling to keep the heavier-and-heavier turban from obstructing her vision, Jade turned to see her reflection in the mirror behind her… when she saw her reflection, she let out a shriek – there was a bright flash of green light and Jade awoke, sweating and shaking.

**QS: Please, please tell me… what did you think of Jade's dream? I wanted it to be a bit different from Harry's. Please, I need an opinion. **


	7. C7: Potions and Break-Ins

**Title: Jade Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone**

_**Author: Queen Serenity**_

**_Fandom: Harry Potter_**

_**Chapter: Seven – Potions and Break-Ins**_

"See? Right there."

"Where?"

"By the bushy-haired girl."

"That tanned girl? Really?"

"Did you see her face?"

"Did you see her scar?"

"Did you see that freakishly big cat of hers?"

The next day, Jade realized something; since her bookbag would have to be used for… well… schoolbooks, then Solluna would have to travel with her on foot. As she moved through the corridors, Lisa and Hermione on either side of her, Solluna behind her, whispers followed her from all sides, and everyone tried to get a look at her from wherever she stood. Jade really wished they'd quit, because she really needed to concentrate on locating her classes.

There were a hundred and forty-two staircases at Hogwarts; trying to navigate the constantly changing stairwells somehow reminded Jade of one her favorite movies, Jim Henson's "Labyrinth", and she thought of how these staircases would have fit in so very well there. Them, and the strange doors that she didn't even want to think about, too.

Then, of course, there was Peeves. The Poltergeist was extremely annoying, and was going out of his way to cause trouble for the first years. He kept annoying Solluna, even, by yanking on her tufted tail whenever she wasn't looking.

Another nuisance to look out for was Argus Filch, the caretaker, and his cat, Mrs. Norris, who would quickly fetch Filch if she saw you break a rule even slightly. One day he caught Lisa, Hermione, and Jade all wandering through a corridor they couldn't recognize, trying to find their way to their Charms class. Unfortunately, it turned out that they were in the out-of-bounds corridor on the third floor, and Filch refused to believe that they were just lost. He was threatening to punish them when Solluna smiled at Mrs. Norris, who had currently been looking positively terrified of the larger catlike creature. When Solluna smiled innocently (yeah, right), the cat took off running like a bat out of hell, yowling, hissing, and spitting the whole way. Filch, swearing, took off after his cat, shouting threats over his shoulder as he left.

The classes were interesting, though… most of them, at least. The exception was History of Magic, which was taught by the a ghost, Professor Binns. Jade would never have thought that such an exciting-sounding course could be taught in such a boring way… History had always been Jade's weak point in regular school, and now this class was even worse – but she determinedly forced herself to pay attention. Solluna herself snoozed during the class, content at Jade's feet.

Even though Binns' class had been the most boring, the class Jade really hated was Quirrell's class, Defense Against the Dark Arts. First off, because he didn't seem to know what he was talking about. Secondly, because she had to learn to hold her breath whenever the teacher passed by her desk; there was a funky smell that came off of his turban, and made her feel really queasy. Solluna hated the smell, too, she told Jade so.

Most of the schoolwork Jade liked, though. At the end of each night, she, Lisa, and Hermione always made themselves comfy in the common room, working on their homework, discussing the day's classes and their opinions of certain subjects.

Friday was a day Jade had been looking forward to. Today would be her first class with Professor Snape. They were to be having Double Potions class with the Slytherins.

"Why are you so excited, Jade?" Lisa asked her, curious. "I heard Snape's an ass to a lot of students, but he really favors those in Slytherin."

Jade shrugged. "He was my guide around Diagon Alley when I had to go shopping… I don't know how he is in classes, but he didn't seem so bad, really. At least he's not that sugary-sweet type that some people are…. That type usually makes me sick."

When they'd sat down in the dungeons where the class was to be held, Jade and Malfoy greeted one another, each giving a slight wave before going back to whatever they were doing. As soon as Snape entered the room, everyone quieted down, and he took roll call.

Once he finished, he eyed the class, his eyes analyzing everyone. "You are here to learn the subtle science and exact art of potion-making," he began. His voice was just above a whisper, but that's all that was needed… everyone, including Jade, clung to his every word. "As there is little foolish wand-waving here, many of you will hardly believe this is magic. I don't expect you will really understand the beauty of the softly simmering cauldron with its shimmering fumes, the delicate power of liquids that creep through human veins, bewitching the mind, ensnaring the senses... I can teach you how to bottle fame, brew glory, even stopper death – if you aren't as big a bunch of dunderheads as I usually have to teach."

He eyed the right half of the room, where the Ravenclaws were mostly seated. "Ravenclaws usually have at least decent comprehension in this subject, at least in what can be learned in the books… I trust that you lot won't give me too many problems." He said nothing of the Slytherins… but then again, he didn't really need to. Slytherins never had to worry about passing or failing this class.

Finishing his speech, he turned towards Jade. "Tell me, Miss Potter," he said. "What would I get if I added powdered root of asphodel to an infusion of wormwood?"

It took Jade a moment to answer, as she mentally scanned over the stuff she'd already read. "Let's see… Oh, I remember. You would get a sleeping potion that is so powerful that it is known as the 'Draught of Living Death'. In fact, if a person is given too much of it, it can send them into a coma or even kill them."

"If I told you to find me a bezoar, Potter, where would you look?"

That was easy. "A bezoar… you'd find that stone in a goat stomach and, if I remember right… it'll save you from most poisons."

"What is the difference, Miss Potter, between monkshood and wolfsbane? Can you tell me that?"

Jade couldn't help but smirk. "No more difference than there is between those and aconite… they're all the same plant, Professor."

Snape nodded, looking mildly pleased. "I'm pleased to see that you've already studied the text, Miss Potter. Five points to Ravenclaw for thinking ahead."

As he'd been firing off questions, several of the other Ravenclaws had been taking notes on the answers. Now, Snape began writing notes on the board for them all to take down.

A little later, they got to work on their first potion. Snape had paired them all up (Jade was paired with Lisa) and set them to making a simple potion meant to cure boils. He swept around in his long black cloak, watching as they all weighed out dried nettles and crushed snake fangs, but Jade didn't notice; for some reason, she found herself tuning everything out as she worked on her roles in making the potion. When she and Lisa had finished, she was actually surprised to see that the potion had come out perfectly.

After class had ended, Hermione, Jade, and Lisa climbed the steps out of the dungeons, heading for lunch.

"How do you do it, Jade?" Lisa asked, brushing her hair out of her eyes.

"Eh? Do what?" Jade asked, not knowing what Lisa was talking about.

"You know… Snape. He gave you five points today."

Jade shrugged. "So? I answered the questions right. Other teachers have awarded points to students for answering questions right."

Hermione spoke up. "Yeah, but I bet if I'd been the one answering the questions, he wouldn't have given me a single point. I heard that Snape pretty much never gives points to non-Slytherins."

Again, Jade shrugged. They sat down at the Ravenclaw table.

Lisa laughed. "You should see how bad he is with Gryffindors. If a Gryffindor even breathes wrong in his class, Snape'll dock points from them."

"Yeah, but they deserve it."

The three girls turned to see the source of the cool voice, Draco Malfoy, standing behind them. Hermione and Lisa turned back to their meals, innocently pretending they weren't listening in when they obviously were. Jade, though, remained facing Draco. She grinned. "Boo."

"Boo back. Still mad?" Draco was smirking as he said this.

Jade shrugged. "Never was mad. I just don't like rudeness, and prefer not to be around it."

"I knew you'd be a Ravenclaw. That, or a Slytherin, of course."

It was Jade's turn to smirk. "Would you expect anything less?"

"Not of you. Wha–" He jumped back, startled, as Solluna crept out from under her mistress's seat to beg for more food. "You're allowed to have your cat out of the dorms?" He jumped back again as he found himself swiped at by an annoyed-looking werecat, who glared at him before going back to eating the chicken Jade had given her.

Jade giggled. "I'd quit calling her a cat if I were you. Anyway, she was given special permission by Dumbledore to go with me to all my classes and such."

"Cool." He eyed Solluna distrustingly before turning back to Jade. "Listen, I'd better get back to my table… I'll see ya later, Jade, alright?"

"Alright." Jade went back to eating. A few moments later, she noticed the stares being shot at her from either side by her friends. "What?"

Lisa gave her a strange look. "How on earth do you know Malfoy, Jade? You said you were raised by Muggles, and hadn't been around much magic 'til you came here, I thought."

Jade shrugged. "He's a friend of mine… we met at the robe shop in Diagon Alley."

At this, Lisa made a face. "You know he's really prejudiced against not-purebloods, right? He's always a big bully, too… his family, as rich as they are, is disliked by pretty much every witch and wizard who's honorable. I wouldn't be his friend, if I was you."

Jade frowned. "Sorry, but you're not me. I choose my own friends, and judge people for myself. He already knows that I refuse to be around him if he's gonna be rude…"

Lisa shrugged and, as Jade went back to eating, she kept back a laugh as she looked at Hermione; the girl was reading one of her textbooks as she was eating, and hadn't heard a word that they'd said.

Later, around three, Jade went with Lisa and Hermione to visit Hagrid; she'd received a note by owl from him this morning requesting that she visit. When they got there, she introduced her friends to Hagrid, and then she introduced Solluna to him, too. The big hairy man was quite taken with the werecat. When Hagrid's great dog, Fang, made as though to bug the werecat, Solluna simply looked at him, and the dog backed off, tail between its legs. Hagrid asked how they were all doing with their schooling, and they told him about stuff going on as they drank the tea which he gave them.

While there, Jade noticed a piece of paper on the table… picking it up, she saw that it was a cutting from the _Daily Prophet_. The article described how there'd been a break-in at Gringotts. Reading over it quickly, Jade was startled to see that the break-in had been the day she'd been at Diagon Alley, and it had been into the vault where Hagrid had stopped. She said nothing about it, though… there was no reason to, after all.

They didn't stay long, though; they needed to get back to their dorms to do their homework

**QS: Hey, all. Sorry for the short chappy… I'm going through the HP chapters, and as one ends, I end the chapter. BTW, how did ya all like the Ravenclaw painting and Password in the last chapter? It took me a while to think of a password… I wanted it to be a good one.**


	8. C8: Brooms, Studying, and Cerberi

_**Title: Jade Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone**_

_**Author: Queen Serenity**_

_**Fandom: Harry Potter**_

_**Chapter: Eight – Brooms, Studying, and Cerberi**_

There was something pleasant beside Jade's bed which she had not noticed before, as she had been in such a hurry to get to her classes. There was a small bookcase sitting there with at least fifty books in it. Gazing at it with amazed eyes, Jade picked up a note she noticed sitting on it.

_Jade –_

_Your family wanted to make sure that they got you something this year for your birthday that could go with your new environment… they wanted to get you books, since they know your love of them is so great._

_Since they know nothing of our world, they gave me some of their own money to be converted for Galleons and asked me to pick out some books for you myself. Enjoy._

_- Professor Snape_

The bookcase, she could tell by glancing over the titles, would prove to be heaven.

Jade, as a rule, tried to avoid hating people… it was often just a waste of energy, it seemed to her…

However, there was one person who she came dangerously close to crossing that line with… she found herself taking a very severe dislike to Pansy Parkinson. At least she only had Potions with her, though, so she didn't have to put up with her that much… Jade just ignored her snide comments, most of the time, and at least Malfoy was in that class, too. Also, Pansy seemed to avoid disturbing Jade too much… she seemed a bit afraid of Solluna.

However, it seemed that it was not to last. Jade found a notice on the board announcing that flying lessons would be starting on Friday… Ravenclaw and Slytherin would both be learning together.

Ignoring the fact that Parkinson and her friend, Bulstrode, would be in the class, Jade felt a great bubble of excitement. Flying! Imagine… Since as long as she could remember, she'd had dreams at night about flying, and it'd been so cool. This would be on a broom, and could be hard, but she was looking forward to it more than almost all of the rest of her classes.

The day that they were to have the lesson, Jade found Malfoy behind her when she went to enter the Breakfast Hall.

"Looking forward to another class with you, Jade…" He drawled, and gave his trademark smirk. "Now you'll be able to see that my broom skills I've been telling you about weren't all talk."

At this, Jade smiled and rolled her eyes. "I never doubted you. You're not the only one looking forward to the class, Draco… I've been looking forward to it since I first heard about flying."

Later that day. When everyone had showed up for the lesson, Jade noticed that there was someone extra there, someone clothed in Gryffindor robes… Neville Longbottom, the boy who'd kept losing his toad. When the teacher (who had short, gray hair and yellow eyes, which made Jade privately wonder if she was completely human, or if it was not an unusual thing in the wizarding world to have unusually-colored eyes) showed up, she explained; it seemed that Neville had had an accident yesterday when his house had been taught, so now he was being put in this lesson just for the afternoon.

When they were getting lectured on what to do with the brooms, and stuff, Jade could hear Draco whispering to a white-faced Neville.

"Heard what happened to you earlier, Longbottom. If I were you, I wouldn't bother getting on that broom again… you'll just fall on your fat ass again."

Jade pursed her lips, but said nothing. She couldn't go to bat every time she saw someone getting picked on, after all… just certain people. Other people would need to learn to defend themselves.

Jade got along quite well with the first few commands. When she said 'up', the broom leapt into her hand. When it came time to mount the brooms again, though, a problem arose. Not for Jade… just a problem which slowed down the class in general.

"Longbottom, why are you not mounting your broom?" Madam Hooch looked stern.

Neville was visibly shaking. The poor boy really did look scared. Frowning and looking at the ground, he shook his head.

Madam Hooch sighed, but obviously decided to take pity. "Alright, then. We'll have to have a private lesson later on… go wait on the front steps until class is finished."

Looking positively miserable, Neville reddened visibly and trudged off in the direction of the steps.

The rest of the class proceeded smoothly, and did so well that at the end they were allowed to fly as they wanted for fifteen minutes, provided that they stayed within twenty feet of the ground. In the meantime, the teacher said she'd be back in a few minutes and headed off, obviously to talk to Neville. Hermione stayed within about five feet of the ground, still looking a bit nervous on her broom as she flew unsteadily. As for Jade, she was up as high as was allowed, having fun. As she flew about Malfoy, who didn't notice her, she could hear him joking with the two lugs who always followed him around. He was making fun of how scared Neville had been. Jade frowned, but flew on. It wasn't any of her business.

What happened next, though, was her business. At least she considered it as such. Pansy Parkinson and Millicent Bulstrode had obviously noticed how inept Hermione was on the broom, and had started taking turns dive-bombing her, trying to cause her to fall, yelling out mocking insults as they did so.

"Maybe you should shave your bird's nest, Granger," Parkinson called out. "Then you could actually see to fly!"

Bulstrode gave an ugly grin. "She probably doesn't wanna fly higher 'cause she doesn't want any birds to land in the nest!" She chuckled nastily.

The look on Jade's face was thunderous.

_Give them a taste of their own medicine, Jade. You know you want to… Madam Hooch is still talking to Neville…_It was obvious that Solluna, watching from the ground, had seen what was happening.

Giving a malevolent grin that only those closest to her had seen, Jade, working on instincts alone, pulled her broom up sharply and headed up way further than the twenty feet that was allowed… when she'd reached an elevation of maybe about sixty feet, she leveled out and circled a couple of times, looking down on her prey. Below, all of the other students were so caught up in concentrating on flying (or, in certain cases, bullying) that they didn't notice her above. The only one that was watching was Solluna, her crimson eyes focused upon Jade, her expression unreadable. The only thing indicative of her mood was the way her tufted tail was flicking in anticipation.

After a couple of circles, Jade pushed down sharply on her broom, going into a steep, steep dive, aiming carefully. She plunged through the air, her robes whipping wildly around her, the wind in her hair, diving much like a bird of prey going in for its meal.

She gripped her broom tightly as she collided with Bulstrode shoulder-first, knocking the heavier-set girl off of her broom. Next, before Parkinson could react, she grabbed the girl's black pigtails and yanked sharply, causing the other girl to let out a sharp squeal and grab onto her hair with her hands. Both hands.

It turned out that Parkinson wasn't as sure on her broom as she had acted. As soon as both of her hands had left her broom, her balance was lost and she tipped sideways, falling the five feet to the ground in an unceremonious heap.

Hermione was gaping at Jade in surprise. Jade winked at her and, leaning over on her broom, grinned smugly down at Parkinson. "You really shouldn't have your hair in pigtails, Parkinson," she said. "It makes you look even more like a dog than usual. But if you like having dog ears, it's up to you… come to think of it, they go nicely with your dog face."  
Parkinson glared, standing and brushing dirt off of herself. "You look so smug now, Potter… but don't think we're not telling."

It was Hermione that spoke then. "No one else saw what happened, Parkinson, so it'll be you and Bulstrode's words against ours. No reason for Madam Hooch to believe you."

Parkinson considered this for a moment, then went back to glaring. "Fine. I challenge you to a wizard's… I mean, witch's duel. Wand against wand. Tonight, in the trophy room."

Jade knew what these were, having read about them. She shook her head, flying in slow circles around Parkinson and Bulstrode, so that they had to keep turning their heads occasionally to keep their eyes on her. "Nah. I have nothing I'd gain from it but being tired tomorrow… I have no reason to prove myself to anyone. Besides, you'd probably do something bitch-like, such as tip off Filch that there were students out of bed in the trophy room. I can't see you doing anything as uncowardly as fighting a fair duel."

Parkinson, who was by now back on her broom, glared at Jade, along with Bulstrode, but said nothing, as the teacher had just returned. Silently, she mouthed to Jade… 'I'll get you.' Jade just smirked.

After that, the last few minutes of class were uneventful, except for when Jade heard Solluna's mind murmur.

_Hehe… well done._

One day, when Jade and Hermione, were having one of their regular study sessions in the library, a familiar face which had usually only been seen at lunch came in… a very miserable-looking Ron Weasley.

When he saw Jade, he turned around and started to go to another part of the library.

"Hi, Ron," Jade called out.

He turned around. "Why would you be talking to me? I thought you were friends with Draco Malfoy…"

Jade shrugged. "So? What does that have to do with anything?"

"Well, usually anyone who'd be friends with someone like that wouldn't want to be friends with someone like me." He avoided meeting her eyes.

Jade rolled her eyes. "I thought you understood what I was like back on the train, Ron. I consider Draco to be a friend of mine, true… but I also consider you to be one, too, unless you don't want that. I choose my friends, other people don't… and I don't see people through the eyes of others, but rather through my own."

Ron frowned, then shrugged. "If that's the way you think of it… is anyone sitting there? He gestured to a seat across the table from Hermione and Jade, and the two girls shook their heads.

When he moved to sit down, Ron let out a light yelp when he saw what was curled up in the chair next to the one he'd chosen… Solluna. "Bloody hell, Jade, do you take that thing everywhere with you?"

Jade just smiled in reply. "Why'd you look so miserable when you came in, Ron?"

Ron seemed to be reminded of something, and the utterly miserable look made its return. "Oh, yeah… the classes are a lot harder than I expected, especially Potions. There's a load of stuff I don't understand, so I came here to try and study, though I doubt it'll do any good…"

"Well, we can help you with that," said Jade brightly. "How about that?"

"Thought we won't, of course," added in Hermione, "actually do your work for you. You will have to put in some effort, Ron."

This seemed to brighten up Ron considerably, and they all set to work.

By the time they had finished studying for the night, and had had to now leave the library since it was closing, it was late. Very late. Too late, in fact. It was past curfew, and Filch would now be out prowling the halls… but Hermione and Jade had promised that they'd walk Ron halfway to Gryffindor Tower, at least. Hermione seemed to be nearly having an anxiety attack, she was so scared of them getting caught and getting in trouble. She absolutely hated breaking rules, even when it was accidental.

As they were trying to find their way to where they would split up to go to their respective House locations, they ended up accidentally taking a few trick staircases and ending up hopelessly lost… and ended up in a hallway with a single door at the end.

It was then that they heard footsteps…

_That is Filch, Jade, _said Solluna. _I can smell that pitiful cat he keeps around him._

Jade's eyes widened. "Solluna says that Filch's coming," she whispered frantically.

They ran quickly but quietly the only way they could, to the end of the hall where the door was… only to find that it was locked.

The footsteps came nearer.

Jade whipped out her wand. _"Alohomora!"_

They quickly went through the now-unlocked door and closed it behind them, pressing their ears against it to listen. They heard Filch walk rather close to the door, and then turn around and walk away. They sighed in relief.

A moment later, Solluna let out a rather feline yelp that was rather unlike her, and disappeared into her shadow, completely vanishing. When Jade turned around, she found out why… and she also figured out instantly where they were, and why the door had been locked.

They were in the forbidden corridor on the third floor, and it was obvious why it was forbidden.

Before them was a monstrous dog which made Jade think immediately of the dog that guarded the Underworld, the one she'd read about in several books on Greek myths, Cerberus.

It was humongous.

It was horrifying.

It was looking at them like it hadn't eaten in a very, very long time.

It was… standing on a trap door?

They were out of there like bats out of hell, running.

Out of the room, out of the corridor, and they kept on going to the point where they split up and on to the portrait of the reading girl. "Password?" she mumbled, distractedly, not even paying attention to how out-of-breath Jade and Hermione were.

"Chaotic tranquility," Jade gasped out, and they were let inside.

In the main room, both girls flopped down to catch their breath. When it was caught, they set to chatting.

"Did you see what it was on?"

"Uh huh, a trap door."

"Obviously, it's guarding something… I don't know what on earth it could be, for them to drag a beast like that in here to guard it."

Jade thought hard. She kept silent, but she thought she knew what it could be… well, sort of. It was most likely that package that Hagrid had withdrawn from Gringotts. What could it be, though?

When Jade made her way back to the dorm, leaving Hermione reading in the common room, she found a rather abashed-looking werecat.

Jade frowned. "I was wondering what happened to you, Solluna. You just seemed to sorta… disappear… when we saw that dog."

_I am truly sorry, Jade. My species, as they mature, develop a power to be able to travel through shadows… if there is even the smallest shadow, even as small as a pea, a werecat can disappear into it and reappear at any other location with a shadow… it starts out relatively short distances, such as within a mile or two, but develops into greater distances with practice and age. I had never done it before, Jade, and so, when I was startled, that was what happened… and then I could not seem to figure out how to do it again. Oh, and by the way, that was a very, very big dog. Are you all right?_

Jade nodded. "I'm fine… We got out of there pretty much right after you. I knew all that about werecats, I've been reading up on your species. Don't worry about it… just don't ever do anything like that to me again, alright?"

_Alright._

**QS: I recommend that you all stop by and read Lunalelle's "Abyss". It is by far the best story I've ever read on this site, although it is very dark.**


	9. C9: Tricks and Trolls

**Title: Jade Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone**

_**Author: Queen Serenity**_

_**Fandom: Harry Potter**_

_**Chapter: Nine – Tricks and Trolls**_

Time went by fast.

Really, really fast.

Lisa had started to come to the library study sessions with Hermione and Jade.

Not long after that day with the flying lessons, the Ravenclaws had started charms with Gryffindors, so Jade, Hermione, and Lisa all got to see Ron a bit more.

Jade had taken to using her free time to study things that weren't part of class… to read the books in her new bookshelf, which Hermione had practically drooled over when she'd seen it, and to read many different books in the library. Jade couldn't help but look towards the Restricted Section in curiosity, but she knew that the books there weren't allowed…

Other than that, she also spent her time sometimes, when she was alone in the dorm, releasing her Snitch choker and going after it, even though she didn't have a broom. It was fun, watching Solluna chasing it around sometimes like an overgrown kitten.

As for Solluna… well, she was keeping her time occupied by practicing her shadow-diving. She seemed to be determined not to leave Jade like that again.

When the days were still nice out, Jade, Lisa, Hermione, and Ron would all go outside to study, or sometimes just hang out. Once in a while Ron's brothers, Fred and George, would be out there. Those two were a barrel of laughs, always making jokes and such. One day, when Hermione wasn't around, Jade took the two aside and asked them if they had any hexes or spells of a certain… type, which they could teach her. She could find out in books if she wanted, but she figured those two might know a few especially useful ones.

After that, it seemed that Pansy Parkinson had gotten a lot clutzier, tripping when there was nothing there and such.

Oh, yes, Jade had decided to go out of her way sometimes and make Pansy Parkinson's life hell. The wench deserved it, and besides… it would be fun. But only because it was being done to someone like her.

At one point, during Potions, Jade had inconspicuously used a Levitation charm (which she'd taught herself from the textbook ahead of time… they hadn't learned it in class yet) to switch one Parkinson and Bulstrode's ingredients with something else that looked much alike… so that when Snape came over to check on their potion, which had congealed and started to balloon into one gleaming sickly-looking yellow-green bubble, Snape was eyeing the bubble. Grimacing, Parkinson poked her wand cautiously at the bubble, which promptly exploded, sending a foul-smelling slime all over Snape and the two horrified girls.

The look on Snape's face as grass and thin vines started growing from the exposed skin of all three like just so much fur was priceless. As the professor wordlessly escorted the two girls from the room, obviously headed to see Madam Pomfrey, his expression thunderous, Jade felt a little bad for Snape. She'd meant for the potion to just hit the two girls, not Snape, too. The potion they had been working on had been a simple one meant to induce hair-growth, but the ingredient switch she'd done had made it into an unstable quick-fertilizer potion. A few minutes later, a Slytherin prefect had come in to tell them that they were to study for the rest of the period, and then just go to lunch.

Sometimes, Jade would not go to hang out with her friends, but would rather seek out Draco and get him to come to the library to hang out and read with her. It took some work to get him to ditch the lackeys, but, when she did, it was rather enjoyable for the two of them. They just sat there towards the back of the library, where it was more private, and read assorted books, chatting occasionally.

Yep, time passed very quickly with how very busy Jade kept herself. Before she knew it, it was Halloween morning.

That morning, they woke to the delicious smell of cinnamon and baking pumpkin.

In Charms, Professor Flitwick told them that they were going to be learning a simple levitation charm today, something that pretty much everyone was excited about… although both Jade and Hermione had taught themselves the charm ahead of time, they played along. Jade was paired with Lisa, who she knew would be a good partner; although Lisa wasn't usually teaching herself ahead of time, she was smart enough that a lot of this stuff came natural to her.

Ron and Hermione were paired together… it was obvious that this pleased neither of them. The two never seemed to get on too well in the study sessions, as Hermione was always correcting the tiniest mistakes that Ron made, and seemed to think he wasn't trying hard enough, and Ron was always snapping at Hermione, thinking she was acting like Miss Perfect.

The charm wasn't all that hard, at least for the Ravenclaws. One Gryffindor, Seamus Finnigan, accidentally set his feather on fire. Jade and Lisa giggled slightly, causing him to redden.

Jade could see Ron wasn't having much luck… the boy was getting frustrated, completely fouling up the motions and rushing the pronunciation.

"You're saying it wrong," Jade heard Hermione snap. "It's Wing-_gar_-dium Levi-_o_- sa, make the 'gar' nice and long."

"You do it, then, if you're so clever."

Hermione proceeded to do so and her feather floated up gracefully to hover about four feet in the air. The look on her face was smug as Professor Flitwick pointed out how well she'd done.

Jade and Lisa went ahead and took turns lazily floating their feather in front of Solluna, who batted at it… it really was quite simple, why couldn't the Gryffindors get it?

At the end of class, as everyone left, Jade was walking with Hermione and Lisa on either side of her. A few feet ahead, Ron could be heard griping to Neville.

"It's no wonder no one can stand her," he said. "She's a nightmare, honestly."

As Hermione left Jade's side, breaking into a run and rushing past Ron, Jade could see that her face was in tears. Ron stopped, looking after her.

Mumbling to Lisa that she'd see her later, Jade made her way to Ron's side and tapped on his shoulder so that he turned to face her.

"She heard you."

"So?" Ron said, but he looked a little uncomfortable. "She must've noticed that people usually avoid her."

"I don't, Lisa doesn't, and you usually don't, either."

"Yeah, but you guys are just good to study with."

Jade was pissed. "You can be such an ass sometimes." She shoved her way past him.

Hermione wasn't seen for the rest of the afternoon, not even in class. In the middle of class, though, when Jade had to go use the restroom, she found her.

Hermione was in the bathroom, in one of the stalls, crying in great, gulping sobs.

Jade tapped on the door. "Hermione, come on out. Please?"

Hermione's voice sounded a bit croaky when she replied. "No, just leave me alone. You heard what he said…"

"Yeah, but he's an ass. Besides, you know that he was wrong… Lisa and I hang with you a lot…"

"I know, but everyone else always seems to a-, avoid me. I must be positively horrid!"

Jade was, temporarily, at least, defeated… so she headed back to class.

When it was time for the banquet, Jade sat, staring at the food, and was considering getting up to try and get Hermione again when something happened…

Professor Quirrell came rushing into the hall, his turban a little messed up, terror on his face. As everyone stared, he gasped out, "Troll – in the dungeons – thought you ought to know."

He then fainted like a pansy.

_That's strange, _Jade thought to herself. _I remember hearing somewhere that about the only thing Quirrell actually is good against is trolls… oh, well._

When the prefects were leading the students from the Great Hall, Jade ducked down and allowed herself to fall back among the Gryffindors, where she yanked on Ron's arm to get his attention. Solluna was at her feet.

"What are you doing?" he asked.

"Just follow me," she snapped. This was all his fault, he would help. She pulled him into a group of Hufflepuffs going the other way, and then into a deserted side corridor.

"Now what's going on?" he asked. "Hurry up, Percy's gonna notice I'm gone probably and come after me."

Jade glared at him. "Hermione's been in the bathroom since earlier, crying because of you. Now she's in danger, because she doesn't know about the troll and it's loose… though it's in the dungeons for now. It's your fault that she's there, instead of having been safely in the Great Hall when we were escorted out."

Ron held up a hand to stop her. "Fine, fine, I'll go get her with you. Just one question." They started walking at a fast pace, Jade in the lead.

"What?"

"Where the heck is 'there'?"

"The girl's bathroom."

"What!" Ron came to a stop, causing Jade, too, to stop and look back at him. "I can't go in there!"

"What?" Jade gave him a weird look. "Why?"

"It's a girl's bathroom. I don't know if you've noticed, Jade, but I am NOT a girl!"

Jade rolled her eyes. "There's no one there but Hermione, so it doesn't count.

Suddenly, they heard very quick footsteps coming towards them.

"Percy!" Ron hissed, pulling Jade to hide behind a statue.

Watching, though, they saw that it was not Percy, but rather Snape. He crossed the corridor and disappeared from view.

"I wonder what he's doing…" Jade whispered, curious. "All the professors were downstairs taking care of the troll, I thought."

She looked down at Solluna, who was peering up at her. "Follow him, please? At least to see where he's going. You can meet me in the dorm later."

_Alright. Be careful, Jade. _The werecat slinked off in the direction Snape had gone, blending in so well with the shadows that she was hard to see.

They went a corridor over, heading still for the bathroom. Jade paused, her nostrils flaring sharply.

"Can you smell something?"

She sniffed lightly, and felt her stomach turn over as the scent completely assaulted her senses. It smelled like old socks and a public toilet sent from hell… it was disgusting.

And that's when they heard it… a low grunting, and the shuffling footfalls of gigantic feet. Ron pointed – at the end of a passage to the left, something enormous was moving towards them. They shrunk back as much into the shadows as was possible and watched as the… thing… emerged into a patch of moonlight.

It was a horrid sight. Absolutely horrid. About twelve feet tall, its skin was a dull, granite gray, its lumpy body like a boulder with its small bald head perched on top like a coconut. The smell coming from it was incredible, and not in a good way. It was holding a long wooden club, which dragged along the floor because its arms were so long.

The troll stopped next to a doorway and peered inside. It waggled its long ears, making up its tiny mind, then slouched slowly into the room.

Jade and Ron just sat there, staring in shock, for about a minute. It looked like the troll… wasn't in the dungeons anymore.

They snapped out of it when they heard something that made their hearts stop – a high, petrified scream.

Jade stared at the doorway in horror. "Oh, no!" She exclaimed. "Ron, that's the girls' bathroom."

"Oh, no," Ron echoed, as pale as the Bloody Baron.

Both crying out Hermione's name, they barreled through the open doorway.

Hermione was backed against the wall opposite, looking about to faint. The troll was advancing on her, knocking the sinks off the wall as it went.

"We've gotta distract it!" Jade yelled out to Ron. Her eyes focusing on a large piece of rubble from the sinks the troll had knocked down, Jade did a very precise swish and flick. "_Wingardium Leviosa!" _Directed by her wand, the piece of rubble rose up and started whizzing around the troll, beating it randomly upside the head. This just seemed to make it angry, and it bellowed its rage as it lumbered towards the next movements it saw, which was Jade's wand moving, lifting its club as it came towards her. She stepped back slightly, her green eyes widening in fear.

"Oy, pea-brain!" yelled Ron from the other side of the chamber, and he threw a metal pipe at it. The pipe did nothing to the troll, but it turned at the yell and started towards Ron, giving Jade time to run over to Hermione.

"Please, Hermione, come _on_!" She said, desperately tugging at a terrified Hermione's arm. Hermione's mouth hung open in terror and she didn't budge as Jade pleaded. "I don't think I'm good enough yet that I'd be able to levitate you out of here!"

All the sounds of the yells and echoes and stuff seemed to be driving the troll nuts. It bellowed again and started toward the nearest person, Ron, who had no way to escape.

In the next few seconds Jade looked, considered, looked, considered, and then she did something which was very brave and, she knew, very stupid. She backed up against the wall and took a great running leap and, scrabbling her legs, managed to get up the trolls back. Wrapping her legs securely around its neck, keeping herself hunched down so that her head was at least a little protected, she promptly balled up her fists and began punching at the troll's beady little eyes with the bottom of her fists, thinking that this at least had to be a vulnerable part.

What happened next was something she didn't even really mean to do. Because of her position, she wasn't able to very well hit the troll's eyes, so it didn't much notice that. However, her wand was clutched awkwardly in her balled-up fist, so that she inadvertently jabbed the troll in the eyes.

Turns out this affected it.

A lot.

Even a troll doesn't like having a piece of wood jabbed into its eye.

Bellowing in pain, the troll twisted and flailed around, while Jade tried her best to clench her legs tighter. She grabbed the troll's waggly ears to hold on for dear life, and it turned out that these were a tender spot; it howled louder and thrashed more.

Hermione had sunk to the floor, hugging her knees, seemingly paralyzed with her terror. Ron was watching the whole scene in horror and pulled out his own wand. He cried out the first spell that came into his head, one he had just heard cast a few minutes ago: _"Wingardium Leviosa!"_

The club flew up out of its owner's hand, rose high, then dropped with a sickening crack on the troll's head. The troll swayed slightly and Jade, realizing what exactly was about to happen, dropped quickly off of it scrambled away just as it fell face-first to the floor, sending a tremor throughout the whole room.

Jade dusted herself off and wiped off the bottom end of her wand, a disgusted look on her face.

"Ew – troll germs."

Their attention was suddenly caught by the sound of slamming and quick, loud footsteps. Just a moment later, Professor McGonagall had come bursting into the room, closely followed by Snape, with Quirrell bringing up the rear. Quirrell glanced at the troll, let out a pitiful, faint whimper, and sat quickly on a toilet, clutching his heart. Jade shot him a disgusted look.

Snape looked Jade over once, obviously looking for injuries, before bending over the troll. Professor McGonagall was looking at Ron and Jade. Her lips were pursed so tightly that they were white… Jade had never seen the woman so angry.

As she berated both Jade and Ron, she was interrupted by Hermione, who explained that they had been looking for her. This, of course, surprised McGonagall.

"Miss Granger!"

Hermione was at last on her feet.

"I went looking for the troll because I – I thought I could deal with it on my own – you know, because I've read all about them." She paused, and gave both Jade and Ron a slight smile. "If they hadn't come after me, I'd be dead now. Jade jumped on it and poked it in the eye with her wand, and Ron knocked it out with its own club. They had no time to get help… it was just about to finish me off right when they arrived."

Jade was stunned that Hermione was covering for them. But she tried not to show it…

"Well – in that case…" Professor McGonagall was staring at the three of them. "Miss Granger, you foolish girl, how could you even think of tackling a mountain troll on your own?"

She proceeded to take five points from Ravenclaw and sent Hermione to Ravenclaw house, providing she wasn't hurt.

After Hermione was gone, McGonagall awarded Ron and Jade five points apiece for their respective houses for having taken down the troll, which she obviously thought had been naught but luck.

After that, the two students headed for their respective houses. By the Entrance Hall, which was on the way, they found Hermione waiting. There was an embarrassed silence, then they all said 'thanks' without looking at each other. They then set off to their houses.

After this event, they were not just study buddies, but they were all good friends. I tell you, nothing brings you together better than taking down a twelve-foot troll together.

In the Ravenclaw common room, where the feast was being finished, Jade loaded up a plate for herself and put assorted meats on another plate. She took both up to the dorm, where she found Solluna waiting for her on her bed.

She gave the plate of meat to the werecat, who started eating gratefully.

"So where was Snape headed?" Jade asked, curious.

Solluna didn't even pause in her eating. _I followed him as far as that door in the forbidden corridor. He went through that, but I was not going in there again._

Jade couldn't help but wonder why Snape had been there. She didn't think he was doing anything bad, but… why? He had to have had a reason…

**QS: I know some parts of this might seem to follow too close to the book, and I'm sorry… I really am. But it's gonna get better, k? OH! And one more thing… You've probably noticed how Jade treats Pansy. Like I said, Jade isn't exactly what you'd call a goody-goody… She just hates outright rudeness, especially when its unprovoked, and she's fiercely defensive of friends. She doesn't like bullying, but tolerates it when it's not her friends.**


	10. C10: Quidditch Excitement

**Title: Jade Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone**

_**Author: Queen Serenity**_

_**Fandom: Harry Potter**_

_**Chapter: Ten – Quidditch Excitement**_

When they got into November, that was when the weather started to turn really cold all of a sudden.

Jade discovered something interesting… when she thought directly at Solluna, the werecat could hear her.

A lot of excitement was mounting in the school… that game that Jade had learned about, Quidditch, was about to have its first house match of the year. It would be Slytherin against Gryffindor.

Jade personally found it a little comical… Whenever she was around Ron, he was always going on and on about how Gryffindor would beat those slimy Slytherins. Whenever she was with Draco, he would always be going on about how Slytherin would beat those stupid Gryffindors. It was just funny listening to each boy brag.

She did find herself getting caught up in the excitement, though. She wasn't going to take any sides, though, because she knew that if she did she would have one friend or the other ticked at her.

The day before the match, Jade and Draco were walking around the courtyard outside, shivering, Solluna trailing a couple of feet behind them. Most of the other students were inside because of the cold, so it was nice and quiet as they chatted about the upcoming match. They were carrying something Hermione had loaned Jade; a jam jar with a magical blue fire in it. It helped to keep them warm.

When they had stopped to take a breath from walking, Jade noticed Snape crossing the yard. "Hey, look," she said to Draco, pointing. She could see that Snape was limping. "Professor Snape," she called out.

Snape stopped limping and saw her. He waited as they walked over to him. Before he got to them, Jade could hear Solluna.

_I can smell blood…_

Jade looked concerned. "What's the matter with your leg, Professor? I saw that you were limping…"

Snape frowned. "I'm afraid that that's none of your business, Miss Potter." He limped away.

Jade closed her eyes for a minute, focusing her thoughts towards the werecat behind her. _Solluna._

_Yes?_

_How are you doing with your shadow diving?_

_I have improved._

_Can you follow Snape through the shadows without him noticing you? I want to find out what's wrong with his leg… you know, make sure it's nothing serious. Please?_

_As you wish._

The werecat disappeared into her shadow, and Jade opened her eyes once more to notice Draco giving her an odd look. She smiled as though nothing had happened and started talking to him again as they went ahead and headed inside.

Later that evening, when Jade headed for bed, she met up with Solluna in her dorm once more, waiting on her bed.

_Well?_

_I was able to find out what happened to it._

_And?_

_The injured leg was, as I said, very bloody… and it appeared to be a bit torn-up. For some reason, he did not go to the nurse, but rather had Filch helping him a bit with fixing it up. Listening to his conversation, I found out that it was that blasted dog which harmed him._

_Hmmm… I wonder why he would be in there with it? Was he trying to get past it…? For some reason, I think he has a reason for whatever it is he's doing… I'll stay out of it. For now, at least. Whenever you see him acting suspicious, though, do me a favor and follow him. Even adults can get themselves into trouble, I know…_

The next day, Solluna stayed behind when Jade left for the match. The werecat didn't want to be around all those noises. The Quidditch match wasn't going well for the Gryffindors. Not well at all. It wasn't really because the team sucked, though… most of them were pretty good; especially the Weasley twins, Fred and George, who worked together as excellent beaters. Their only real problem was that their seeker sucked… from the sound of it, they had failed to find a decent seeker this year, so they had had to settle and hope for the best. The seeker was far from the best.

It was a bit funny, though, listening to Lee Jordan's remarks voicing his personal opinion as he announced what was happening in the game… and even funnier to hear McGonagall, who was sitting next to him, admonishing him.

Hagrid even showed up to join them for the game, which was surprising. He brought a pair of binoculars with him to better see the game.

About maybe fifteen minutes into the game, when the Slytherins had made a goal and everyone was either booing or cheering, Jade could feel the excitement of the game wash over her. She was so excited, it almost felt as though it was hard to catch her breath.

Wait a second…

It wasn't just because she was excited. It felt as though breath was getting harder and harder to catch, as though something were constricting around her throat.

Jade reached up and could feel the choker that Snape had given her digging into the tender flesh of her throat, and could feel it tighten slightly even more beneath her trembling fingers.

As the Slytherins almost scored another goal, but were blocked, Jade could feel panic welling up as the crowd around her, including her friends, sounded out again. They were so caught up in the game, no one seemed to notice that Jade was slowly suffocating.

Her eyes teared up, she elbowed Hermione, who glanced at her distractedly, then looked back a second time in alarm. "Jade!" she gasped out, seeing Jade clawing wildly at the choker. It had stopped shrinking, but was cutting off her air supply.

Hermione tugged on Hagrid's arm to get his attention and set to trying to help Jade get the choker off of Jade's neck. She pointed her wand at the choker, and muttered something, but nothing happened. She tried another incantation, but still nothing happened. Hagrid tried prying at the choker, but his large fingers couldn't get a grip on it.

Something dawned on Hermione's face. "Wait, isn't that the choker…" she grabbed Hagrid's binoculars and turned them to the stands where the teachers were sitting. "I knew it!" she exclaimed. "He's doing it!"

Jade was disbelieving. Even as spots swam in front of her eyes and she felt lightheaded, she pulled away from Hagrid, who had been trying to help her, and yanked the binoculars from Hermione so that she could see for herself.

Hermione was at least partially right. Snape was doing something… his dark eyes were fixed directly on her, and it looked as though he was muttering nonstop under his breath. Despite the cold, Jade could see sweat beading his brow.

But she knew that wasn't all to see. There had to be something else… she _knew _bad people, and she knew Snape wasn't one.

Bad people…

As the idea came through her oxygen-deprived brain, she turned the binoculars to see Quirrell, she saw that he was doing the same thing. The look on his face was like nothing she'd seen before… pure, unadulterated hatred.

She took down the binoculars only to find that Hermione was gone, as was Lisa, who had been sitting with them, too.

Her last thoughts before she passed out was wondering where they went, and she could hear the crowd sounding even louder than ever.

It was only maybe five minutes later when she found herself awakened once more. She found herself looking up into the wizened face of Professor Dumbledore.

"Ah, Jade, you're awake… you had all of us worried," Dumbledore said, then handed her her choker. "I have returned this to its normal size… there was nothing wrong with it; it simply seems that someone had a bad sense of humor, and thought it would be funny to cast a minimizing hex on it as you sat there. You should thank your friend, Miss Turpin… as soon as she saw what was happening, she went to fetch me, and I as able to counteract against it. Hopefully, we'll be able to eventually find out who the prankster was, exactly."

Jade smiled wryly. "Thank you, Professor." To the astonishment of those watching, she re-fastened the choker around her now-bruised neck.

When she exited the stadium later, Jade found Draco waiting for her. "Are you alright?" he asked, looking concerned for once.

She shrugged. "I'm fine, nothing to be done about it now." Quickly, she changed the subject to the Quidditch game; turns out that just as she had passed out the Slytherins had caught the Snitch and won the game. "I'll tell you, though, what I did get to see of the Quidditch wasn't as good as I thought it would be. The Gryffindor seeker sucked, so it made it too easy for the Slytherins."

Draco grinned. "The professional games are much better. Tell you what… I promise you that I'll take you to see one sometime… alright?"

"Alright." Bidding him goodbye, she went ahead and caught up with Hermione.

Hermione looked anxious. "Jade, I don't care what you say, Professor Snape's bad." Jade frowned, but Hermione continued on, "I swear to you, I could tell he was hexing you. Think, the choker was from him. I saw his eyes were locked on you, and he wasn't even blinking as he was muttering. That's how you jinx people, Jade."

Jade shook her head. "No, I don't think so, Hermione… think what you want, but I won't believe it." She didn't bother telling Hermione about Quirrell; as stubborn as the sure-of-herself girl was, there was no way she'd believe Jade. She'd probably blame it on being imagined from lack of air, or something absurd like that.

A couple of minutes later, Ron had found them, and they told him what had happened. When Hermione voiced her opinion, Ron loudly voiced his agreement.

"Come on, Jade," he said. "You can tell it just by looking at him… Snape's a slimy evil git."

At that moment, Hagrid found them, and they found themselves not long later at Hagrid's cabin, sipping some strong tea upon Hagrid's insistence that it would do Jade's throat some good. They continued the conversation there.

Jade frowned. "I know he's not evil. I can tell when someone's bad, most of the time… he's not. He's cold, but not bad. I won't even say I don't think he's up to something, because I know he is, but I know he has a reason for whatever it is. I mean, when Solluna told me he'd been trying to get past that big three-headed dog-"

Hagrid dropped the teapot, interrupting Jade.

"How do you know about Fluffy?" he said.

_"Fluffy?" _Jade was incredulous. Why in god's name would Hagrid name that thing Fluffy… unless it was sort of like one of those big biker dudes being named Tiny.

"Yeah – he's mine – bought him off a Greek chappie I met in the pub las' year – I lent him to Dumbledore to guard the – "

When Hagrid didn't finish, Jade gently prodded. "You were saying?"

"Don't ask me anymore. That's top secret, that is."

Hermione spoke up. "But Snape tried to kill Jade, Hagrid. And he's trying to get that object, whatever it is, that the dog's guarding."

"I'm tellin' yeh, yer wrong!" said Hagrid hotly. "I don' know who did that to Jade's choker, but it was obviously just a bad joke gone wrong. Snape wouldn' try an' kill a student! Now, listen to me, all three of yeh – yer meddlin' in things that don' concern yeh. It's dangerous. You forget that dog, an' you forget what it's guarding', that's between Professor Dumbledore and Nicolas Flamel – "

"Aha!" said Hermione, looking excited, "so there's someone called Nicolat Flamel involved, is there?"

Poor Hagrid looked furious with himself.

**QS: I would really appreciate if someone out there would try and do some fanart of Jade, it's be really cool of them. Maybe even with her friends, or Snape?**

**I meant to tell you guys. Let's say that someone wanted to write a story about Jade (let's say sort of a Jade Potter fanfiction), then, no matter what type it was (except for making fun of Jade), I wouldn't mind on two conditions: 1 – I must be told. And 2 – I must be given full credit for creating her in a disclaimer. But let's say someone wanted to write a fic with an older Jade, or a fic pairing her with someone, or anything, it'd be no problem. Just follow those two conditions. K?**

**BTW, if anyone has time, could you please stop by and check out some of my fics that have less than ten reviews, and leave reviews? Please?**

**PS: Was it just me, or did Book 6 feel far too short?**


	11. C11: Presents and Mirrors

**Title: Jade Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone**

_**Author: Queen Serenity**_

_**Fandom: Harry Potter**_

_**Chapter: Eleven – Presents and Mirrors**_

After the Quidditch match, it wasn't long before Jade realized something; Christmas was getting awfully close.

Solluna's fur coat had gotten suddenly thicker, and she looked a bit funny to Jade.

Hearing other people talking excitedly about going home, Jade had come to a decision. It was one which made her feel a bit bad, but one that she felt was smart.

She would not be going home for the holidays. For some reason, she felt, deep inside, that she should draw a line between her Muggle life, and her Magic life. Right now, she wanted to concentrate on magic and stuff, and going home for a bit would serve only as a distraction.  
In her free time, she started flipping through some catalogs that belonged to one of her housemates, looking for gifts for her friends. She was completely stuck on what to get for Draco, however. Suddenly, though, she was hit with an idea, and she added something into her letter to her family before sending it.

Even if she hadn't realized right away, Jade would have realized very soon that Christmas was coming. Around mid-December, Hogwarts woke to find itself covered in several feet of snow.

Fred and George Weasley were punished by Professor McGonagall when they had, to Jade's intense delight, bewitched several snowballs to follow Quirrell around, bouncing off of the back of his turban. After that, the two had taken to trying to trying to catch Solluna by surprise with snowballs. It was, all in all, quite comical.

Excitement buzzed about the castle as everyone waited for the holidays to start. Jade could feel the excitement, too, but she tried to focus more on her studies. In Potions, she was becoming more and more proficient… in that particular class, she surpassed even Hermione. Concentrating on the potions they had to concoct in class, Jade was able to keep her mind off of the bitter chill which pervaded the dungeons.

"I do feel sorry," said Pansy Parkinson one day in class, "For those people who have to stay at Hogwarts for Christmas because they're not wanted at home." She was looking over at Jade when she said this, and Millicent snickered.

Jade set her potion to simmer, as the instructions said, and then said evenly to Hermione, "I know who I personally feel sorry for, Hermione. I feel sorry for families who have nasty people coming home to them." She looked up at Pansy then. "I guess your family had better get ready for you coming home and stuff… you know, set out your dog dish, get your leash out of the closet, all of that. I wouldn't want to be the one who has to take you for your walks when you're at home… it's cold out there."

Snape passed by close just then, so Parkinson just glowered at Jade.

When Potions was over, and Jade was heading down the corridor, she heard Malfoy call out her name, and she went ahead and sent her friends on ahead as she waited for him.

When he caught up to her, he greeted her, then asked, "Is it true that you're staying here for the holidays?"

When Jade nodded, he asked, "Why?"

She shrugged nonchalantly. "I just sorta want to keep my time here and my time at home separate… that's all. I don't need any distractions. Why do you ask?"

Draco shrugged. "I was just curious. But it makes sense, what you said. Me, I'll be going home, for Christmas, though. Almost everyone is."

When they made their way to the Great Hall and split up, Jade found the Great Hall to be magnificently decorated. It was beautiful.

When the holidays started, Jade found herself to be mostly alone, but she hardly minded… the quiet was kinda nice. The only close friend of hers still there was Ron.

There was something she'd been wanting to do, now that there was time, but it took a while to get up the courage for it.

A few days into the holidays, though, she got up the courage. She went down to Snape's office in the dungeons and knocked on the door.

"Enter."

When she came in, Snape looked a little surprised. "Miss Potter. I heard about what happened at the Quidditch match to your choker… are you alright?" For a moment, Jade thought she spotted some indefinable emotion reflected in his dark eyes, but it disappeared a moment later.

Jade smiled slightly, and lightly touched the choker at her throat. "I'm fine. My throat was a little bruised for about a week afterward, but that's all. It was just a little scare, no big deal."

Snape nodded. "I'm please to hear that you are fine. What can I help you with?"

"Ummm…" Jade pulled out what she'd been hiding behind her back; Lisa Turpin had loaned her her Wizard Chess set. "I was wondering, if you weren't busy, if maybe you'd like to play a game of Wizard Chess with me."

Snape seemed to consider. "I have some time… Very well, Miss Potter. I'll join you."

They played for about an hour and a half. Jade wasn't very good, since she had not much practice, and Snape obviously wasn't really trying. As they played, they talked mostly of potions. Snape seemed rather impressed by Jade's understanding of them, commenting that her comprehension was astonishing for her age.

At the end of the game, Snape was the winner, of course. Bidding him goodbye, Jade headed back to the Great Hall, where she met Ron. He saw the chess set she was carrying, and asked her to join him for a game, which she did… they played in the Ravenclaw common room, which was no big deal, since no houses hated Ravenclaw in general. It was nothing like with Slytherin and Gryffindor, both of which were really quite competitive.

She lost, of course. She promised herself that come summertime she'd practice a lot, so that she would get better.

On Christmas morning, Jade awoke to many, many presents on her bed. She was literally half buried in them. It took many trips to haul them down to the Ravenclaw common room, where she'd promised she'd meet Ron to open their gifts together. She went over to the portrait to let him in, and they seated themselves comfortably before digging into their presents.

First Jade opened her presents from the Dursleys, all of which had Ron staring in astonishment at the sheer number of them. He counted them, and told Jade it was thirty-three presents.

Jade smiled and rolled her eyes. "They always go overboard."

Most of the presents were books. Lots and lots of very cool-looking books. There was also a very fancy, very expensive-looking quill with an ever-lasting ink charm on it, so that she'd never have to dip it. It was tipped with a wicked-looking red and black feather.

They'd also included a very nice set of school robes. The ones Jade already owned were one of the cheaper types, but they'd gotten her some made from nicer materials, and were more comfortable, and luxurious… like something Draco would wear.

There was assorted other things from them, mostly jewelry and stuff, and she set them aside so she could move on to presents from other people.

From her Aunt Marge was a two-hundred dollar gift certificate for her favorite store.

Hagrid had given her a hand-carved flute which sounded like an owl. Very cool.

Jade picked up a lumpy parcel. "Wonder who this one is from?"

Ron turned a bit pink at this. "My mum. She knows we're friends and oh, no," he groaned. "She's given you a Weasley sweater."

Jade had torn open the package to find a thick, hand-knitted sweated in emerald green and a large box of home-made fudge.

"Every year she makes us a sweater," said Ron, unwrapping his own, "and mine's _always _maroon."

"I'll have to write her a letter with my thanks," said Jade, nibbling at the fudge, which turned out to be quite tasty.

Her present from Hermione was an enormous tomb on the history of magic. Inside the cover was a note from Hermione, saying that Jade could learn a lot from it, and that it would prove to be more interesting for her than the actual class.

Lisa had got Jade a ginormous box of assorted Wizard candies, since Jade hadn't tried that many kinds.

The next present Jade picked up was wrapped in black velvet and was tied with a green silk ribbon. Jade rolled her eyes – she didn't even have to see a label to realize who this was from – and slowly untied the ribbon, setting it aside before she removed the velvet from the gift. On top was an envelope, which she opened to find a letter written to her.

_Jade –_

_Don't think I didn't see those glances you were sneaking towards the Restricted Section._

_I found this a couple of days ago when I was in a certain shop with my family. If I were you, I wouldn't let anyone else see it, since it isn't exactly… well, you'll understand, I'm sure, when you see it._

_I know that you'll enjoy it._

_Happy Christmas._

_Sincerely, Draco_

Looking at what he'd given her, Jade suppressed a gasp. It was a very old tome, _Forbidden Magic Throughout the Ages_. She looked up quickly to see that Ron hadn't seen it, as he was distracted by busily trying to unstick two Bertie Botts beans he had nicked out of Jade's candy. Quickly, she hid the book under a pile of her other presents, knowing that, if he saw it, his reaction wouldn't exactly be what you'd call good.

There was only one present left… one that had hardly any weight when Jade lifted it.

When she opened it, she gasped; she'd read about these!

Ron saw what she had, and a look of awe came over his face. "Wow!" he said, "those are really rare and _really _valuable."

Jade tried on the invisibility cloak and grinned at Solluna, who blinked at her sleepily from where she lay by Jade's chair. "Don't I look stylish, Solluna?" she asked, teasing.

Solluna blinked sleepily again. _You look like a decapitated head._

And it was true. With the hood down, this was what Jade looked like, since her body was hidden by the cloak. She took it off and placed it with the rest of her stuff, and read the note that was with it.

_Your father left this in my possession before he died. It is time it was_

_returned to you._

_Use it well._

_A Very Merry Christmas to you._

Later that day, Jade went outside with Ron and Solluna to play in the snow, and they found Fred and George out there in their Weasley sweaters, rolling a protesting Percy, who had somehow gotten the arms of his sweater tied around him like a straitjacket, around in the snow.

They untied Percy and decided to have a snowball fight; on one team, George, Percy, and Ron. On the other team were Fred and Jade, and Solluna transformed into her humanoid form to play, too. When Ron saw Solluna transform, he freaked and practically fainted.

Hours later, when they all made their ways inside for dinner, their cheeks were all flushed from the cold but their eyes were twinkling with good humor.

The Christmas dinner was simply amazing… even more so than the beginning of the year feast, and the Halloween feast. There were many, many dishes… and it all looked simply delicious. Jade couldn't help but giggle as she saw what Dumbledore was wearing… a flowered bonnet. Solluna pigged out even more than usual, downing two whole platters of fish and a roast rabbit.

From the wizard crackers, Jade won many things, including a neat wizard chess set of her own.

Another comical thing to see was when a very drunk Hagrid kissed a giggling Professor McGonagall.

All in all, it was nice. Very nice.

That night, Jade couldn't sleep… she felt inexplicably antsy, like she wanted to get up and do something.

It was way past curfew, but still…

She got out of bed and pulled her father's old invisibility cloak from her chest.

As she held the slick, liquid-like material in her hand, watching it shimmering eerily at her in the moonlight, Jade contemplated what it was that she held in her hands.

Years ago, this very same cloak had been in the hands of her father.

Her… father…

She didn't know she was crying until she noticed the tears falling upon the material.

It hadn't even really sunk in until now. For the longest time, she had been able to keep herself sort of… separate… from the fact that her parent had once existed. Since she'd never really had them, she had tried not to miss them.

But sitting here, holding something that was most likely one of her father's most personal possessions once…

…it made them all too real…

_Jade?_

Jade turned with a snap to see Solluna staring at her from the edge of the bed. _What is it? _She'd grown accustomed to not using out-loud words with Solluna unless she had to.

_Are you… Why are you not asleep?_

Jade shrugged; she had a feeling that Solluna had seen the tears upon her face, but she didn't really want to talk about it. "I was thinking about going to test my cloak out… wanna come with?"

The werecat nodded her head once in ascent and, after Jade had covered herself with the cloak, followed her mistress. Briefly, Jade considered taking a lamp, but decided to just go by the moonlight.

It wasn't long before she found herself outside the portrait of the reading girl, who had fallen asleep reading her book.

Jade looked left and briefly thought of checking out the library's restricted section, but she decided not to… there were probably certain alarm spells on some of those books. Besides, she had that book from Draco which she could check out later.

Jade walked aimlessly through the halls, simply wanting to stretch her legs. Once, she walked by Filch, and she was surprised that he couldn't hear her heart hammering as she passed right before his eyes, but he didn't even flinch. The whole time, Solluna kept, unseen, in the shadows.

Eventually, Jade turned into a corridor where something caught her eye; a door stood ajar. Her curiosity tugged her through the door.

It was, like several other rooms in the castle, an unused classroom. It had the typical piled-up chairs and desks that an unused classroom would normally have, except… there was one thing that drew her attention…

Propped against the wall across from her and Solluna was a mirror with a beautiful, ancient-looking golden frame, standing on two clawed feet. As Jade moved closer, she noticed the inscription: _Erised stra ehru oyt ube cafru oyt on wohsi._

Jade moved a bit closer, wanting to see her reflection. What she saw made her jump about a foot in the air and whirl around to look behind her, but all that met her eyes was Solluna's own crimson ones, staring up at her from the shadows. Slowly, Jade turned back around.

They were still there.

In the mirror was, as expected, her reflection… but with her was a couple. Her eyes widened when she noticed a certain familiar face. The only other time she'd seen it was in that photo of hers, but… she could still recognize it.

One of the people reflected in the mirror was her mother, smiling at her and crying. Seeing her there, beside her, Jade could see what everyone meant when they said she reminded them of her mother. Her eyes were exactly the same, along with the shape of her face. The primary difference was Jade's long raven hair and the darker tone of her skin from being exposed a lot to the sun.

The man standing next to her mother put his arm around the woman. Even though she'd never seen him, Jade knew immediately who he was… he was the one who'd given her the color of her hair. It was her father, James Potter.

_Jade? What is the matter? _Solluna had come up to stand beside Jade.

_Can't… can't you see? _Jade gestured at the mirror. _It's… my parents…_

Solluna blinked as she looked into the mirror. _No… no, I cannot see what you are seeing, Jade._

Jade blinked in confusion. Why couldn't Solluna see them? She looked back up at the mirror's inscription. She'd only glanced at it before, but now that she was really looking at it, it didn't really look like another language.

To be honest, it kinda reminded her of those word riddles she'd seen in books a couple of years ago.

It only took a few minutes for her to figure it out. All she had to do was reverse the order of the letters and take away the spaces, putting them in the proper places: _I show not your face but your hearts desire._

So that was it. They weren't really there, but still…

Then, surprisingly, her parents in the image waved a tearful goodbye to her, and walked off into the shadows of the mirror. When Jade turned her gaze back to her own self in the reflection, she got a surprise.

The reflection was her, and yet it wasn't. She looked slightly older, and her eyes seemed almost to glow with an inner light as she smirked at the real Jade.

Not long later, Jade went ahead and went to bed.

She tried to stay in her room the next night, but found her curiosity pulling her back to that mirror.

She made her way back to the mirror, wondering what she would see, still pondering the changed reflection she saw the night before.

"Back again, I see."

Jade whirled around to find Professor Dumbledore sitting on one of the desks by the wall, smiling gently at her. Jade didn't know what to say, and so said nothing.

"So," he said, slipping off of the desk to come over to her, "you, like hundreds before you, have discovered the joys of the Mirror of Erised."

Jade finally found her voice. "I… didn't realize it was called that."

Dumbledore spoke quietly. "But of course you've realized by now what it does?"

Jade nodded. "Yes. 'I show not your face, but your heart's desire.' It shows your deepest desires… possibly desires so deep that you may not know of or even understand them."

"Very insightful, Jade. This mirror will be moved to a new home, tomorrow, Jade, and I ask that you not go looking for it again."

Jade nodded. "I understand, sir. There's not really any reason for me to, anyway. I've already seen what it had to show me."

Dumbledore nodded. "I'm glad you realize this."

And so, they bid each other goodnight and Jade headed back to her room. In bed, Jade reflected…

_I'll put it away for now… but I can't help but wonder… what other adventures will my father's cloak enable me to have in my time here?_

**QS: In case you were wondering, I purposely left Jade's other family out of the mirror. Why? She has no reason to miss extra family. She hasn't gone without that. I know one thing… Jade's gonna enjoy torturing Pansy in her years at Hogwarts.**

**Do any of you think that I should have Jade lay off of Pansy? Is she being too cruel? Or should I keep it up?**

**Would some of you please join my C2 group? I have no members… -tear-**

**Well, all, that's all for now! In the meantime, can any of you recommend some good girl who lived stories for me to read, or dark HP stories? By dark I mean like a non corny Hermione/Voldemort story, or something like that.**

**Bye for now!**


	12. C12: Deals and Clues

**Title: Jade Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone**

_**Author: Queen Serenity**_

_**Fandom: Harry Potter**_

_**Chapter: Twelve – Deals and Clues**_

Jade stayed true to her decision, and for the rest of the Christmas Holidays the cloak stayed folded neatly at the bottom of her trunk.

When Hermione and Lisa came back from the holidays, Jade took it out and showed it to them. They each were delighted, and tried it on in front of the mirror, laughing at how it looked to see their heads floating above the ground. After that, it was returned to the bottom of Jade's trunk.

They each thanked each other for their respective gifts.

Whenever classes weren't in session, Solluna wasn't with Jade… she was trailing Snape, as Jade had requested.

Later, Jade was tracked down by Draco.

"I wanted to ask you about something," he said. "I spoke with my parents this summer, and they have given me permission to extend an invitation to you to come visit our household for a while this summer. My father is to be taking me to a professional Quidditch match, and I want you to come along. So… will you come visit me?"

Jade smiled. "I'll tell you in a minute. By the way, thanks for the gift, Draco," she said. "I'll enjoy it… a lot."

Draco nodded. "Speaking of gifts…" a bewildered expression came over his face. "What in the blazes were those things you sent me? I've never seen anything like them…"

Jade smirked at this. "They're what are called video tapes. They're a sort of muggle contraption, where you watch stories on something called a TV. There are many types, for all ages and all preferences. The three I gave you are three of my favorites, and I wanted you to see them. Which brings me to my answer to your request. I'll go, on one condition…"

"What?"

Jade dropped the bomb. "You have to come stay one night with me before-hand. At my muggle relatives' house. When you do, you can bring those tapes I gave you and you'll be able to see what's on them."

Draco's eyes bugged. "You have GOT to be kidding. Me, associate with _muggles_? Ridiculous. Do you know what most people would give to be invited to Malfoy Manor?"

Jade shrugged. "That's the condition. I'm not saying I wouldn't enjoy visiting you, but I'm saying that you have to visit me, too, or you can just forget it. It's up to you."

Draco looked pained. "I… well…" he swallowed. "If my father allows it, then I guess I'll endure one night there. No more, though!"

Jade grinned. "Good. I promise you, Draco, it won't be as bad it you expect it to be. And we'll spend most of the evening in my room, anyway, watching the video tapes I gave you. Oh, and one other thing… when you _are _around my aunt, uncle, and cousin, _please _don't be rude. Please."

Draco simply glowered.

Later, Jade ran into Neville Longbottom in the hallway. He was hopping rather pitifully, obviously suffering from the Leg-Locker Curse. Rolling her eyes, Jade ran over to help him and performed the countercurse on him. His legs sprang apart and Neville got to his feet, trembling. He shot a tentative smile towards Jade. "Thanks."

The set of Jade's face was grim. "Who did it?"

"Umm…" Neville scratched the back of his head. "You don't wanna know."

Jade pinched the bridge of her nose, eyes closed, then spoke. "It was Draco, wasn't it?" She opened her eyes to look at him.

Neville nodded. "He was wandering around outside the library, looking really irritated. He said he'd been looking for someone to practice on, and then he did this to me."

Jade immediately felt a stab of guilt. It was obvious what he'd been irritated about… it had been because of her. And he had taken it out on poor Neville.

"You should have defended yourself, Neville."

Neville looked at her, pleading. "You're one of his good friends, I hear, Jade," he said. "You could tell him not to do this stuff, couldn't you?"

Jade shook her head. "First of all, I'm his friend, not his mother. Second of all, Neville, there's not always going to be someone there to defend you. You have to learn to take care of yourself… don't wait for a hero, but be your own."

Neville looked even more pitiful. "But I can't."

Jade sighed and shook her head, and turned to walk off. "Then you'll always be everyone's doormat. I know that if you really put your mind to it, you can do anything. I believe in you… but that's not what matters. You have to believe in yourself. It's your choice," she called over her shoulder as she left him to stand there.

Ever since she'd heard the name from Hagrid, Hermione had been attempting to find some information on Nicholas Flamel. Lisa helped her sometimes, but wasn't as obsessed with it as Hermione was. She'd tried to get Jade to help her, but Jade had refused to. She saw no reason right now to pursue it.

One day, when Jade was going through some of her stuff, she got a surprise. She was glancing idly over the cards she'd collected so far from Chocolate Frogs, and came across the first one she'd gotten, Dumbledore. Reading it, a certain part caught her eye: _Dumbledore is particularly famous for his defeat of the Dark Wizard Grindelwald in 1945, for the discovery of the twelve uses of dragon's blood, and his work on alchemy with his partner, Nicholas Flamel_.

Grinning, she showed it to Solluna, Lisa, Ron, and Hermione, who remembered something from a book she'd been reading from the library, and brought the book out to look at. When Hermione found the part she'd been looking for, they were able to find out that Nicholas Flamel was the only known creator of the Sorcerer's Stone, and to find out exactly what the Sorcerer's Stone was.

So that was it.

That was what was hidden under the trapdoor, obviously.

Jade listened to Ron and Hermione going on about how Snape probably wanted the stone to use for himself, and that he was trying to get it.

But Jade had her doubts. The pieces were all starting to come together in her head, and she was starting to figure out what was going on.

One night after a Quidditch match, Solluna woke Jade up in the middle of the night.

_Jade._

Jade blinked sleepily at the werecat, who was laying casually on Jade, her eyes inches from Jade's.

_Hmm? What is it?_

_Tonight, I observed Professor Snape. You may have noticed that he and Professor Quirrell were not at dinner. Instead, they were meeting each other in the forest. From the conversation I heard, Snape arranged the meeting._

She proceeded to tell Jade the exact wording of the conversation.

_When Snape left, Quirrell looked petrified._

_Thanks for telling me, Solluna. Your dinner is by my trunk._

Yes, the pieces were coming together.

Earlier that day, when the Quidditch match had been taking place, Jade had stayed behind and read in the dormitory.

When Hermione and Lisa had got back from the match, she found out that Ron and Neville had gotten into a fight with Malfoy, Crabbe and Goyle… that Ron had gone against Malfoy, and that Neville had taken on Crabbe and Goyle all on his own, or tried to. He was still knocked out in the infirmary.

When Jade got to dinner, she'd found Malfoy sporting a black eye. She'd went over to him, smirking, and told him that she loved the look before returning to her seat.

When they'd been alone later, she'd ranted at him for being foolish, and then he got her laughing when he started ranting about how the idiotic Gryffindors had won against the Hufflepuffs.

She'd grinned and made him feel better by pointing out that the Slytherins would surely win, still, that she was sure of it.

**QS: Sorry that it's so short, but I am, as I said before, putting my chapters with the Harry Potter chapters. Jade is currently less involved with Quidditch, and so Quidditch chapters are automatically shortened. And the reason certain parts of it were simply summarized, is because it's parts that were originally in the book, and I try to avoid directly quoting.**


	13. C13: Dragons and Idiots

**Title: Jade Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone**

_**Author: Queen Serenity**_

_**Fandom: Harry Potter**_

_**Chapter: Thirteen – Dragons and Idiots**_

Something Jade noticed in the next few weeks was that Quirrell wasn't doing well, it seemed. He was getting paler, and thinner, too.

But she paid little attention to that. Solluna had taken to avoiding her mistress's bed for specific reasons. Primarily, it was because Jade was running for bitch queen.

Just kidding.

Truthfully, Jade was acting rather irritable whenever anyone bothered her outside of classes. In just over two months, the exams to get into next year were coming up. Whenever Jade was in class, she was taking notes furiously on everything the teachers talked about, even in History of Magic. Whenever she was not in class, she had her canopy closed, a magical light set up in it, and she was sitting there on her bed, studying or doing her homework. Anyone who so much as spoke to her would basically get their head verbally bitten off.

She wasn't scared of failing. That wasn't the problem…

The problem was that Jade was feeling slightly… competitive. And Hermione was doing the same studying. There was a sort of friendly competition going on between the two girls to try and be top of the class. Since she knew she would usually be busy, and didn't know if Hermione could do it alone, Jade asked Lisa to make sure she would give Ron a little extra help with his studying. Knowing him, he'd put it off until the last minute, probably, then have a spaz attack as he tried to cram it all in at the last second.

Lisa, unlike the other two in the Ravenclaw Trio, wasn't stressed about being top of the class, or about failing. She knew with absolute certainty that she would pass, as she had learned all of the stuff fine throughout the year.

Since she wasn't having much time to see Ron anymore outside of class (and they had very little classes together), Ron had taken to sitting sometimes at the Raveclaw table with Lisa, Hermione, and Jade.

One day, when Jade had actually come out to study with her friends in the library, they all saw Hagrid. Once he'd left, they were able to figure out that he'd been looking up dragons.

This, of course, made them all curious exactly why he had been looking them up… and it made Jade a bit suspicious.

They all ended up going to Hagrid's hut to interrogate him on why he'd been looking up dragons, and were (except for Jade) rather surprised to find that he actually had a dragon egg. There. In his WOODEN house.

Hermone tried to talk some sense into Hagrid, but Jade didn't even bothed trying; she knew that with Hagrid it would be useless…

Jade fell back into her study habits for a few days. One morning, when they were all eating breakfast, Jade had to leave for a few minutes to use the ladies' room.

When she got back, she noticed that Ron and Hermione looked a bit worried, and Jade asked why. They showed her a note which Athena had delivered, one from Hagrid which said:_It's hatching._

Next, they told Jade how they'd been arguing about whether to skip class or not to go down to the hut, and it looked like Malfoy had heard.

Jade spoke, her voice low. "Okay… first of all, Ron, dragons take a little while to hatch. We can go down during morning break, and it probably will be coming out about then. Second of all, you guys need to learn to be quieter about things like that… you know he's always itching to find ways to get you into trouble, Ron."

After their morning classes, Jade and Hermione met up with Ron and hurried down to the hut. Solluna, as usual, trailed behind Jade. As they came up to his house, they could see Hagrid's head sticking out of the door, looking rather flushed and excited. His face practically glowed when he saw them.

"It's nearly out," he said as he ushered them inside, Jade going first.

The egg was lying on the table. There were deep cracks in it. Something was moving inside; a funny clicking noise was coming from it.

Hagrid, Ron, and Hermione all drew their chairs up, excited, and watched, barely breathing. Meanwhile, Jade went ahead and set her chair against the wall beside the window. She'd read a bit about Norwegian Ridgebacks, and knew that even as newborns, that they were rather hostile… even at birth. She could see just the cracking egg just fine from here. Solluna sat on her haunches beside Jade's chair, so that Jade was situated against the wall between Solluna and the window.

Out of nowhere there was a cracking noise which pierced the otherwise mostly silent room. The baby dragon flopped onto the table. Jade smiled slightly, watching it… it looked exactly like she'd always pictured a baby dragon when she had read Anne McCaffrey's Dragonriders of Pern books when she was younger.

It sneezed, a couple of sparks flying from its snout.

"Isn't he _beautiful_?" Hagrid murmured. The big man reached out a hand to stroke the dragon's head, only to have it snap at his fingers and show its pointed fangs. At this, Solluna let out a light snort.

_My fangs are cooler. Much, much cooler._

"Bless him, look, he knows his mommy!" Hagrid said.

"Hagrid," asked Hermione, "How fast do Norwegian Ridgebacks grow, exactly?"

Hagrid was about to answer when the color suddenly drained from his face – he leapt to his feet and Jade blanched as she thought, for a moment, that he was for some reason running at her. Turned out he was just headed for the window, though.

"What's the matter?" she asked.

"Someone was lookin' through the gap in the curtains – it's a kid – he's runnin' back up ter the school."

Jade ran to the door and looked out. Even at a distance there was no mistaking him.

Malfoy had seen Hagrid's dragon.

Jade decided not to mention the dragon to Malfoy. _I mean, I was in there, too… _she thought. _So he'll probably keep quiet about it, right?_

Still, Jade and her friends tried to reason with Hagrid… but he wouldn't get rid of the dragon. He named it and everything. As Jade had known it would, the dragon grew very, very quickly. She knew that within a month the house would be too small for him.

They came up with an idea. Ron's brother, Charlie, worked with dragons. They'd get a hold of him and see if he could take it. Hagrid reluctantly agreed and so then a letter was sent with Athena off to Charlie.

In the following week, an answer came from Charlie as Ron was showing Hermione and Jade the bite that Norbert the dragon had just given him. It was about midnight, and they were all in the Ravenclaw common room again.

Out loud, Jade read the note that had been delivered.

Dear Ron,

How are you? Thanks for the letter – I'd be glad to take

the Norwegian Ridgeback, but it won't be easy getting him

here. I think the best thing will be to send him over with

some friends of mine who are coming to visit me next week.

Trouble is, they mustn't be seen carrying an illegal dragon.

Could you get the Ridgeback up the tallest tower at mid-

night on Saturday? They can meet you there and take him

away while it's still dark.

Send me an answer as soon as possible.

Love,

Charlie

They decided to go ahead and do it… the three of them would hide under the cloak, along with Norbert.

Ron's hand got so bad from the bite that he ended up having to go to Madam Pomfrey.

When Jade and Hermione went to visit him there at the end of the day, they found him looking terrible. He told them how Malfoy had come in, pretending to need to borrow one of Ron's books, and gloated over him, threatening to tell about the dragon. When Ron said that Malfoy was doing it because of what had happened at the Quidditch match, Jade silently agreed, and had to resist doing so out loud. She frowned, thinking. Malfoy was most likely just messing with Ron… right?

Right?

She forced a reassuring smile onto her face. "Don't worry, Ron. It'll all be over at midnight at Saturday."

That didn't have the desired effect. Ron sat upright quickly, sweating.

"Midnight on Saturday!" he said in a hoarse voice. "Oh no – oh no – I've just remembered – Charlie's letter was in that book Malfoy took, he's going to know we're getting rid of Norbert."

Before Jade and Hermione could answer, Madam Pomfrey came in and ushered them out, saying her patient needed sleep.

They still decided to go through with the plan.

On Saturday night, with much huffing and puffing, they were able to get the dragon up to the castle, and then they were making their way to the tower. In the corridor beneath the tower, though, sudden movement made them freeze. A lamp flared about ten feet away, revealing Professor McGonagall, in a tartan bathrobe and hairnet, holding Malfoy by his ear.

"Detention!" she shouted. "And twenty points from Slytherin! Wandering around in the middle of the night, how _dare _you –"

"You don't understand, Professor. Ron Weasley's coming – he's got a dragon!"

"What utter rubbish! How dare you tell such lies! Come on – I shall see Professor Snape about you, Malfoy!"

Silently, Jade shook her head. She couldn't believe Malfoy had been such an idiot. Well, it was his own fault.

They got the dragon to the top of the tower, and got the dragon safely sent off with Charlie's friends ten minutes later.

Unbelievably happy, they made their ways back down to the corridor, only to meet up with Filch's leering face.

They were in trouble.

A lot of trouble.

They'd forgotten the invisibility cloak on top of the tower.

**QS: I honestly thought about having Jade remember the cloak… but then that would get rid of the detention in the forbidden forest, and I wanted to keep that. Do you guys get why Malfoy told? If not, you'll find out next chapter.**

**Sorry the chapter's so short, but remember, I'm summarizing some parts… but not the important ones. I just don't feel like quoting the original book too much.**

**By the way, I know Ron originally wasn't with Hermione and Harry when they did this, but I decided to go ahead and have his hand better enough for him to do it, too.**


	14. C14: Detention and Centaurs

**Title: Jade Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone**

_**Author: Queen Serenity**_

_**Fandom: Harry Potter**_

_**Chapter: Fourteen – Detention and Centaurs**_

This was bad. This was _very _bad.

Since she was already up, it was Professor McGonagall's study to where they were taken. Hermione was absolutely trembling. Ron was white as a ghost. Jade, however, looked completely calm and collected… but she was quaking with terror inside. Her mind raced, trying to come up with a good excuse.

When Professor McGonagall came in, Jade was, needless to say, severely surprised to find the teacher leading Neville Longbottom.

"Ron!" Neville burst out, the moment he saw the other three. "I was trying to find you to warn you, I heard Malfoy saying he was going to catch you, he said you had a drag–"

Whilst Jade kept her face carefully blank, Ron shook his head violently to shut Neville up… but Professor McGonagall saw. Jade could honestly say that she was more frightened now then she had been when they had been up against that troll when she saw the look in the professor's eyes.

"I would never have believed it of any of you. Mr. Filch says you were up in the astronomy tower. It's one o'clock in the morning. _Explain yourselves._"

They were all silent for a moment. Finally, it was Jade who spoke up, her face innocent. "It's my fault, professor. I wanted to go get a good look at the stars, professor, and I thought the top of that tower would have a good view… it is, after all, the astronomy tower. My friends came along so I wouldn't be alone."

Okay. The look Professor McGonagall was now giving her was even worse than the one from before. Her voice was deathly soft. "With this weather, Miss Potter? Do you think I am foolish enough to believe that?"

Jade gulped. She'd forgotten that it was really dark and cloudy tonight.

"I think I know exactly what's going on," said Professor McGonagall. "It doesn't take a genius to figure it out. Mr. Weasley, you fed Draco Malfoy some cock-and-bull story about a dragon, trying to get him out of bed and into trouble. I've already caught him. I suppose you think it's funny that Longbottom here heard the story and believed it, too?"

Jade saw Neville looked shocked and hurt as he heard this. She'd have to tell him later that none of them thought this was funny.

"I'm disgusted," said Professor McGonagall. "Five students out of bed in one night! I've never heard of such a thing before! Miss Granger, Miss Potter, I thought you had more sense. Mr. Weasley, just wait until your prefect brother hears of this! All four of you will receive detentions – yes, you, too, Mr. Longbottom, _nothing _gives you the right to walk around the school at night, especially these days, it's very dangerous – and fifty points will be taken from Gryffindor."

Neville and Ron both gasped audibly.

"Fifty points _each_," McGonagall continued, breathing heavily through her long, pointed nose. She looked over to Jade and Hermione. "The same for both of you with Ravenclaw."

A hundred points lost to each of their houses. This put Gryffindor in last place and Ravenclaw in third… behind Hufflepuff.

Jade felt her heart sink and she swallowed the lump that had formed in her throat.

Over the next few weeks, the four point-losers went through a lot of crud as they went through classes each day.

Ron and Neville had it the worst. With how fiercely competitive their house was against Slytherin, and with the fact that they were now in last place, their house was practically showing loathing for them. Meanwhile, the Slytherins cheered for them, saying they owed them one.

Jade and Hermione went through a different kind of torture. Most of their house was giving them the cold shoulder, the silent treatment… it was like they were disappointed in them. The biggest insult to them was that they were behind… of all the houses to be behind… _Hufflepuff._

Jade, meanwhile, was purposely giving someone else the cold shoulder. Malfoy. She was royally pissed at him, and, whenever she saw him or he tried to get her attention in any way, she acted as though she could not see him.

Still, both girls forced themselves to tough it out and they went back to their studying, knowing the exams were approaching ever faster. Once more, Jade was secluding herself to her bed.

One morning, at breakfast, the detention-receivers each received a note, each one identical:

Your detention will take place at eleven o'clock tonight,

Meet Mr. Filch in the entrance hall.

Professor M. McGonagall

Jade had been expecting this; she didn't think McGonagall had forgotten the detentions… the teacher had probably just been really busy in preparation for the upcoming exams.

And so, at eleven o'clock that night, Jade and Hermione bid goodbye to Lisa and, with Solluna following Jade (Snape had already turned in for the night, it seemed), headed down to the entrance hall where they then met up with Neville, who was pale and nervous-looking. Filch was already there… as was Malfoy. Jade had known that he had a detention, but hadn't really expected it to be with them. Still, she expected it made it easier for McGonagall.

Filch told them to follow him, and they did. As he led them outside, carrying a lamp, he said things that he was obviously trying to scare them with. Privately, Jade wondered why exactly he hated the students so very much. What he said wasn't really affecting Jade that much, but, as they walked, Neville kept sniffling. Jade noticed that Malfoy kept shooting her guilt-laced sidelong glances. _Good_, she thought privately to herself. _The prat should be guilty_.

The overhead moon was bright, like a giant silvery orb, but dark clouds kept making their ways across it every now and then, shading out its cool silver light. For Jade, it would have been a pretty night… if it weren't for the circumstances.

Finally, they heard a distant shout:

"Is that you, Filch? Hurry up, I want ter get started."

At the sound of Hargid's voice, Jade blinked in surprise. They were having detention with Hagrid? Well, at least that meant he would be fair; he wouldn't give special treatment, probably, but at least he would be fair.

Ron and Hermione must have been thinking something along the same lines, because relief showed on their faces. Filch spotted it. "I suppose you think you'll be enjoying yourselves with that oaf? Well, think again. It's into the forest you're going and I'm much mistaken if you'll all come out in one piece."

As Neville let out a small whimper, a shadow darted from behind all of them and placed itself in Filch's path, glaring up at him with red eyes. At the sight of Solluna, Filch stopped dead in his tracks. "What's this beast doing here!"

Jade cocked her head, listening to something that only she could hear. "My companion goes where I go, Mr. Filch. You have a problem with it, you can take it up with Professor Dumbledore. Also, she has a message for you."

"Oh?" Filch asked, his yellowed teeth showing as he spoke. "And what might the little beast have to say to me?"

Jade repressed the smirk, keeping her face carefully blank as she spoke. "She says that you should mind your own business and just get us to Hagrid, so that you can return to the castle to tend to your highly important duties."

Filch reddened, about to say something, but just then Hagrid came striding toward them out of the dark, Fang at his heel. He was carrying his large crossbow, and a quiver of arrows hung over his shoulder.

"Abou' time," he said. "I bin waitin' fer half an hour already. All right, Jade, Hermione, Ron?"

"I shouldn't be too friendly to them, Hagrid," Filch advised coldly, "they're here to be punished, after all."

"That's why yer late, is it?" Hagrid said, frowning his disapproval at Filch. "Bin lecturin' them, eh? 'Snot your place ter do that. Yeh've done yer bit, I'll take over from here."

"I'll be back at dawn," Filch said, "for what's left of them," he added nastily, and he turned and started back toward the castle, his lamp bobbling away in the darkness like one of those Will 'o' the Wisps that Jade had read about.

Malfoy argued with Hagrid a couple of minutes about going into the forest, but Hagrid won the argument. Then, he explained to them that they were trying to find a wounded unicorn to help it, that something had been attacking unicorns in the forest. To cover more ground, they were to split into two parties.

"I want Fang," Malfoy said quickly, looking at Fang's long teeth.

"All right, but I warn yeh, he's a coward," said Hagrid. "So me, Jade, Hermione, an' Solluna'll go one way an Draco, Ron, Neville, an' Fang'll go the other. Now, if any of us finds the unicorn, we'll send up green sparks, right? Get yer wands out an' practice now – that's it – an' if anyone gets in trouble, send up red sparks, an' we'll all come an' find yeh – so be careful – let's go."

The forest was black and silent. _Too silent_, Jade thought. _I think… the animals are frightened of whatever hurt the unicorn._

Not far into the forest, they reached a fork in the path, and Jade's group went to the left, and Draco's group to the right, Ron looking very, very ticked at having to be with Draco.

They walked mostly in silence, barely talking along the way. At one point, Hagrid made Jade and the others hide as he aimed his crossbow towards a noise like a cloak rustling over leaves, but the sound disappeared before the big man could track it. He told them that there was something there that shouldn't be.

They kept walking, and ended up meeting up with two centaurs, one at a time, one named Ronan, the other Bane. They were very civil-acting, and Hagrid tried to question them on what was going on in the forest, but they both acted very cryptic, only commenting on how bright Mars was that night.

Hagrid and his group ended up bidding the centaurs goodbye and continuing on their way, Hagrid answering a couple of Jade and Hermione's questions about centaurs. Out of nowhere, they spotted red sparks in the air, signifying the others were in trouble.

Hagrid told them to wait there and he went quickly to help the others.

When Hagrid came back, the others were with him. Hagrid was fuming. Turned out that Malfoy had spooked Neville, who had panicked and sent up the sparks. Hagrid had come up on Ron and Malfoy rolling around on the ground, as Ron had jumped on Malfoy when he had done that, but Hagrid had come up on them before much damage could be done to either.

"We'll be lucky ter catch anythin' now, with the racket you two were makin'. Right, we're changin' groups – Neville, Ron, you two stay with me an' Hermione. Jade, you and Solluna go with Fang an' this idiot."

So Jade and Solluna set off into the forest with Malfoy and Fang.

They walked for about ten minutes, Malfoy finally broke the silence. "Jade."

Jade kept walking, pretending she hadn't heard him.

"Jade, look… I'm sorry." As he said this, Malfoy's voice was strained, as though he wasn't used to apologizing, or something.

"Apology _not _accepted, Malfoy." She deliberately called him by his last name. "It's because of _you _that we both are here."

"I don't think you understand. I never meant to get you into trouble. When I looked through the window, I didn't see you. All I saw was that oaf, Granger, and Weasley. I was only trying to get _them _into trouble, especially Weasley!"

Jade bit her lip, remembering now where she and Solluna had been sitting. There would have been no way for him to see them from where he was. "That's no excuse, Draco," she said, not even looking at him as she spoke. "I'm not saying be nice to Ron. It's not up to me in that area. But I am saying this… you could have gotten him… all three of us… _expelled _if we had been caught with Norbert. Even if I hadn't been there, did you really think I would have forgiven you for getting not one, but two of my best friends expelled? And even putting that aside, would you really want Ron expelled? Look at it this way, if he was gone, then you wouldn't have him around to torture anymore."

Out of the corner of her, she saw him shrug, and noticed him turn slightly red. "That's not really what I was thinking about…"

"Then what _were _you thinking about?"

"I admit I was having fun anticipating the look on Weasley's face when he was caught, but I was mainly thinking that with those two gone… you'd have a bit more free time on your hands."

Jade stopped in her tracks. When she spoke, finally looking at the now severely embarrassed Draco, her voice was tinged with surprise. "are you telling me that you tried to get my friends expelled… because you wanted me all to yourself?"

Draco shrugged, now avoiding her gaze. "You're always so busy, Jade, with all the people and things you have to divide your time with. I barely get to see you outside of classes."

Jade smiled. "If you want us to hang out more, then all you have to do is ask me, and I'll try to make time."

"…Alright."

They started walking again. After a few minutes of silence, it was Jade that spoke.

"Hey, Draco?"

"Yeah?"

"Apology accepted… just don't ever do anything like that again."

As they had been walking, Jade had noticed the unicorn blood getting thicker. Ahead, Jade could see a clearing. She put out a hand to stop Malfoy.

Something bright white was gleaming on the ground. They inched closer.

It was the unicorn all right, and it was dead. Jade had never seen anything so beautiful and sad. Its long, slender legs were stuck out at odd angles where it had fallen and its mane was spread pearly-white on the dark leaves.

Before Jade could move toward it, Solluna surprised her.

_Jade, stop! Go no further!_

_What? Solluna, what's wrong? _Looking down, Jade could see that the werecat's hackles were raised.

_There is something… something here… something very, very evil and dangerous. I can sense it! Come on, let us leave this place now!_

Before Jade could move an inch, however, she heard a slithering sound, confirming that something was there. A bush on the edge of the clearing quivered . . . Then, out of the shadows, a hooded figure came crawling across the ground like some stalking beast. Jade, Malfoy, Fang, and even Solluna stood transfixed. The cloaked figure reached the unicorn, lowered its head over the wound in the animal's side, and began to drink its blood.

"AAAAAAAAAAARGH!"

Malfoy let out a terrible scream and bolted – so did Fang. The hooded figure raised its head and looked right at Jade, unicorn blood dribbling down its front like liquid moonlight.

Staring, Jade felt terror quivering throughout her entire being. She couldn't move because of it, not even to lift her wand. _Solluna! Go through the shadows! Get Hagrid!_

_No! I promised that I would not leave you like that again!_

_I am not asking you to be a coward, I need Hagrid! GO!_

Hesitating only slightly, the werecat melted into the shadows and disappeared.

The dreaded figure made its way to its feet and moved swiftly towards the paralyzed Jade. In that moment, she was sure that she was to die. There was no way that Hagrid would make it in time…

Then a pain like Jade had never felt before pierced her head. It was as though lava had been poured on her scar, it was burning so bad. Red and white spots swimming before her eyes, Jade fell to her knees from the pain. Dimly, she was aware of the sound of hooves galloping, and something jumped clean over her, charging the figure.

Jade stayed kneeling on the ground, the intense pain preventing her from doing much else; she was going to die, she knew it. A minute or two later, the pain had finally passed. It had felt more like one or two hours. When she looked up, the figure was gone. A centaur was standing over her, not Ronan or Bane; this one looked younger; he had white-blond hair and a palomino body.

"Are you all right?" asked the centaur as it pulled Jade to her feet.

Jade nodded numbly. "Thank you. What… what was that creature?"

The centaur didn't answer. He had amazing blue eyes, like pale sapphires. He looked carefully at Jade, his eyes lingering on the scar that stood out, livid, on her forehead.

"You are the Potter girl," he said. "You had better get back to Hagrid. The forest is not safe at this time – especially for you. Can you ride? It will be much quicker this way."

Jade stared. This wasn't some horse… this was a centaur. "Are you sure?" she asked.

The centaur nodded, lowering himself on to his front legs so that Jade could get on his back. "My name is Firenze."

There was suddenly the sound of more galloping from the other side of the clearing. Ronan and Bane came bursting through the trees, their flanks heaving and sweaty.

"Firenze!" Bane thundered. "What are you doing? You have a human on your back! Have you no shame? Are you a common mule?"

"Do you realize who this is?" Firenze demanded. "This is the Potter girl. The quicker she leaves this forest, the better."

"What have you been telling her?" growled Bane. "Remember, Firenze, we are sworn not to set ourselves against the heavens. Have we not read what is to come in the movement of the planets?"

Ronan pawed the ground nervously. "I'm sure Firenze thought he was acting for the best," he said in his gloomy voice.

Bane kicked his hind legs in protest.

"For the best? What is that to do with us? Centaurs are concerned with what has been foretold! It is not our business to run around like donkeys after stray humans in our forest!"

Firenze suddenly reared onto his hind legs in anger, so that Jade had to grab his shoulders to stay on.

"Do you not see that unicorn?" Firenze bellowed at Bane. "Do you not understand why it was killed? Or have the planets not let you in on that secret? I set myself against what is lurking in this forest, Bane, yes, with humans alongside me if I must."

And Firenze whisked around; with Jade clutching on as best she could, they plunged off into the trees, leaving Ronan and Bane behind them.

Jade frowned. She'd read much about centaurs, and knew how proud and mysterious a race they were… that was why she'd been so hesitant in the first place to get on. Now it seemed as though other centaurs were mad at Firenze, and she felt it was mostly her fault.

"Firenze… What was that creature? Please, tell me."

Firenze slowed down, and warned Jade to watch out for low-hanging branches, but didn't answer her question. After a long while of silence, Jade thought he wasn't going to answer her. Suddenly, the centaur stopped.

"Jade Potter, do you know what unicorn blood is used for?"

Jade thought for a moment, then nodded. "Yes, I do. I read about it. Unicorn blood can keep anyone from dying, no matter how badly you are wounded, or poisoned, or how close you are to death. However, this isn't really a good thing. The reason for this is because by killing the unicorn to save yourself, and drinking the unicorn's blood, will curse you. From that moment on, you won't be able to live normally… it's like you have just a half-life."

The centaur nodded. "That is correct."

Jade bit her lip slightly, thinking. "There're not many who'd be so desperate as to choose an eternal curse over death. You'd think death would be better." Her lower lip was chewed slightly as she thought. Suddenly, her face went pale. "Oh, no… no, that can't be true."

"For a human, Jade Potter, you are intelligent. Figure it out for yourself."

"Jade! Jade, are you all right?"

Solluna came running down the path, Hermione and Ron following close behind her, Hagrid puffing along behind them.

"I'm okay, everyone," Jade said, feeling cold and numb as she said this. "The unicorn's dead, Hagrid… it's in that clearing back there."

"This is where I leave you," Firenze murmured as Hagrid hurried off to examine the unicorn.

Jade slid off his back. "You have my thanks, Firenze. For… everything. And I'm sorry that the others got angry with you over my riding you."

"Good luck, Jade Potter," Firenze said. "The planets have been read wrongly before now, even by centaurs. I hope this is one of those times."

He turned and cantered back into the depths of the forest, leaving Jade shivering.

Back in the Ravenclaw common room, Jade and Hermione found Lisa waiting for them.

Voice deadly calm and cold, not betraying her frightened inside, she told them, and Solluna, too, all that had happened. Solluna had wanted to know, anyway, what had happened after she had left.

"Voldemort…" Hermione and Lisa both flinched at the name. "…Is in the forest. He's after what Fluffy is hiding. It's the Sorcerer's Stone. I don't know how, but I know he's most likely determined to get his hands on it, so he can have the Elixir of Life…"

Hermione gasped. "Snape is probably going to try to get the stone, so that he can get it to Voldemort! I knew he was evil!"

Jade sighed. She was too tired to bother trying to convince Hermione otherwise right now.

Lisa spoke then. "I guess, then, we'll have to keep an eye on Snape. Anyway, everyone says that Dumbledore's the only one You-Know-Who was ever afraid of. With him around, You-Know-Who can't get to you. Don't worry."

That night, when Jade turned in for bed, she found her invisibility cloak folded neatly under the blankets. Attached was a note:

_Just in case._

**QS: Not much to say here. Hope you enjoyed the chapter.**


	15. C15: Blood-Flavored Lollipops and Trust

**Title: Jade Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone**

_**Author: Queen Serenity**_

_**Fandom: Harry Potter**_

_**Chapter: Fifteen – Blood-Flavored Lollipops and Trust**_

The exams weren't as hard to get through as Jade thought… Although, she had to concentrate to ignore the stabbing pains from her scar that had been bothering her since the encounter in the forest.

Her easiest subject, all in all, was Potions. She actually enjoyed taking that exam, because when she lost herself in concocting the Forgetfulness potion she was able to forget, at least temporarily, about the frightening information which she now felt constantly looming over her.

The test for History of Magic had to be the hardest, but it was, thankfully, made much easier by the fact that Jade had beforehand studied the book which Hermione had gifted her with the past Christmas.

After that final test, Lisa and Hermione wanted Jade to go with them to hang out with Ron, but she refused, saying she wasn't feeling well.

It hadn't exactly been a lie. She truly wasn't feeling well, especially since now that the exams were over, she had nothing to distract her really from the foreboding shadow in her mind that something really, really bad was approaching.

Lying on her bed on her belly, kicking her legs slightly up in the air, she thoughtfully sucked on a blood-flavored lollipop from that candy box Lisa had gotten her as she contemplated the situation. As strange as it seemed, Jade had been determined to be open-minded when she'd tried that particular candy, and had been surprised when she found that she liked the slightly coppery-tasting candy. It was now her favorite out of all the wizard sweets she'd tried.

…_Hmm… _She thought, projecting her thoughts so that Solluna, who was beside her, could hear. _Even if… if that creature in the forest really _was _Voldemort, and even if he could, by some miracle, get into the school, then he still shouldn't be able get past Fluffy, right?_

_Other than Dumbledore, only Hagrid should know how to get past that three-headed beast. _Solluna didn't even both to open her eyes as she said this, by all appearances looking to be half-asleep.

Jade nodded. _And he's so loyal to Dumbledore, he wouldn't ever give up the secret._

At this, Solluna opened her eyes and shot a crimson sideways glance to her companion. _Yes. We all know that Hagrid is so very adept at keeping secrets._

Jade's emerald eyes widened as something occurred to her. _Oh _"bloody HELL!" The exclamation which had started as a thought ended as a shout, the lollipop falling to the floor. Without a matter of seconds, the girl had bolted from the room, Solluna following.

Jade ran all the way down to Hagrid's hut, and was severely out of breath by the time she got there. She found Hagrid outside his hut, shelling peas.

"Hullo, Jade," he said, smiling. "Finished yer exams? Got time fer a drink?"

Jade took several moments to catch he breath, clutching the stitch in her side. "I'm sorry, Hagrid, but no… I'm in a big hurry. I came down here because I have to ask you something. You remember that night you won Norbert?"

Hagrid nodded.

"Well… the stranger you won it from, he didn't happen to be wearing like a hooded cloak, did he?"

Again, the big man nodded. "As a matter of fact, he was. It's not that unusual, though, there's a lot o' funny folk in the Hog's Head – that's the pub down in Hogsmeade. Mighta bin a dragon dealer, mightn' he? I never saw his face, he kept his hood up. He was a nice enough chap, though. I only had to pay for my first drink that night . . . after we started talkin', he was kind enough to have my mug filled whenever it was even near empty. Nice chap, he was."

Trying to keep the horror from her face, Jade sat abruptly on the ground. "What did you two talk about, Hagrid? Anything interesting?"

Hagrid shrugged. "Jus' ordinary stuff, I reckon." He frowned as he tried to remember. "He asked what I did, an' I told him I was gamekeeper here . . . He asked a bit about the sorta creatures I look after . . . so I told him . . . an' I said what I'd always wanted was a dragon . . an' then . . I can' remember too well, 'cause he kept buyin' me drinks . . . Let's see . . . yeah, he said he had the dragon egg an' we could play cards fer it if I wanted . . . but he had ter be sure I could handle it, he didn' want it ter go ter any old home . . . So I told him, after Fluffy, a dragon would be easy. I told him, Fluffy's a piece o' cake if yeh know how to calm him down, jus' play him a bit o' music an' he'll go straight off ter sleep–"

Suddenly, Hagrid looked horrified. "I shouldn'ta told yeh that!" he blurted out. "Forget I said it!"

By the time he finished saying this, Jade was already running away, back towards the castle.

_Oh no, oh no, oh bloody hell…_

Solluna's voice sounded in Jade's head. _As kindly and loyal as he is, you must admit… Hagrid's tongue is loosened a bit too easily._

Jade ran down to the only place she could think of; the Potions classroom. She knew for a fact that Snape wasn't holding class or anything right now, and could only hope that he would be there.

When she came bursting through the classroom door, her hair all wild-looking from her running everywhere, her eyes frantic, Snape looked up quickly from where he was checking exams at his desk. His coal-black eyes looked, needless to say, surprised to see her, and Jade knew she must be a sight to see.

"Jade-, Miss Potter, what is it that you need? What's wrong?"

Jade struggled to get the answer out, gasping for breath. "I…need to…see…Professor…Dumbledore…please… where's his… office?"

"What do you need to see the Headmaster about that is so important?"

Jade had finally been able to catch her breath by now. "I..." She searched for an answer, knowing that if she told the whole truth she probably would not be taken seriously. "…need to tell him something," she finished, a bit lamely.

One of Snape's eyebrows rose at this. "Right."

A look of innocence worked its way onto Jade's face, looking anything but with her hassled appearance. "It's true."

"I'm sorry, Miss Potter, but, whether or not it's true, whatever you want to speak to him of will have to wait. Professor Dumbledore left just ten minutes ago. He received an urgent owl from the Ministry of Magic summoning him to London at once. But if you want to, you can tell me…" He trailed off, staring in astonishment as Jade bolted from the room once more, gone as quick as she had come.

_What in the world is wrong with her? _The dark-haired professor wondered. He hadn't seen her this worked up at all since she'd come here, so it had to be something…

Jade was frantic. She knew, she _knew _that that owl hadn't really been from the Ministry of Magic. It had been just a way to get Dumbledore out of here. She saw Draco in the dungeon's corridor, and he'd raised a hand to wave, but she'd kept on running right past him, leaving him with a baffled expression on her face.

Jade knew what she would have to do. She was only eleven, but she would have to do this… There wasn't any other option, really, if you stopped to think about it.

In the Entrance Hall, she ran right into Lisa, Ron, and Hermione. She tugged Hermione after her, and the other two ran behind them, curious as to what was going on. As she ran, Jade spoke.

"Dumbledore… he got called away! He's going after the stone now, I know it! We've gotta stop him, Hermione!"

Ron sped up, caught up to the two girls, and grabbed both of them to pull them to a halt. "Wait just a bloody minute! Stop who? Who are you two talking about?"

By now, Jade was too out of breath to answer, so Hermione did. "We've gotta stop Snape from grabbing the Sorcerer's Stone beneath the trapdoor. If he gets it, he's gonna take it to You-Know-Who!'

Jade rolled her eyes. Whatever, she wasn't going to try to explain it, there wasn't time! She started walking again at a fast pace, climbing the stairs towards the third-floor corridor. "Ron, do me a favor, please?"

"What?"

"Go now to the owlery and send Athena to Dumbledore. I'm really gonna need his help… I'll only be able to hold him off for so long, I'm sure, and time really is of the essence."

Ron grew rather red in the face. "Are you an idiot?"

This surprised Jade so much that she stopped for a moment and shot him a strange look before she started climbing the stairs again. She didn't bother giving him an answer.

"You must be. Do you really think I'm gonna let two girls and a … werecat … go face off against a dark wizard all alone? You must be mad!" He turned and looked at Lisa. "Lisa, you go. I'll go with these two."

Lisa nodded and started heading back down the stairs.

Meanwhile, they had reached the third floor… and the door to the corridor was ajar.

"I told you…" Jade said. "He's there."

Staring at the open door, Jade felt a shiver run down her spine. She was doing this… she was really doing this. It wasn't just some freaky nightmare.

Honestly, it felt as though Death itself was waiting beyond the door.

And, for all any of them knew… perhaps it was.

Jade stopped short of the door and looked at those with her. First, she looked at Ron, who looked determined even as his freckles stood out from his white-as-a-ghost face.

Second, she looked at Hermione, whose bushy hair looked even wilder than usual. Her face looked similar to it had the night the troll had been around… completely and utterly petrified.

Lastly, she looked at Solluna, whose fur was raised as she looked towards the door, obviously fearing the three-headed dog.

Her eyes sad, Jade swallowed and spoke, forcing a confident smile onto her face. "You guys… you should go back. I can hold him off myself until Dumbledore gets here. If you come, you might get hurt."

Hermione shook her head. "No. If you go, I go, too."

Ron looked mad at the very idea of what Jade had said. "Don't be stupid. If I turn back now, and let either of you go without me, I would never be able to forgive myself if something happened to you."

Solluna narrowed her eyes. _I will not back out this time, Jade. I went to get help in the forest, but not this time. I am going with you. Wait a moment before we go through, though._

Solluna's form seemed to blur and then, in the next moment, she was crouched on the ground in her humanoid form. She wore a sort of sleeveless top showing her midriff, and a skirt that fell to just above her knees, a slit on each side. Both articles of clothing seemed to be made of her own ebony fur, edged in silver fur. When she got to her feet, her height now reaching to Jade's chin, Jade could see that Solluna was clutching a short dagger. Her silver tufted tail, which was still there, twitched slightly, and Jade could see a dangerous glint in the werecat's eyes.

"Remind me not to ever get her really mad," Ron murmured to Hermione.

Jade turned back towards the door and pushed it open.

As it opened, the sight before their eyes was terrifying. Fluffy was there, as expected. At its feet was a harp. All three of Fluffy's heads growled low, but it didn't move from its spot over the trapdoor. Jade could see sweat beading on Solluna's brow when she glanced over at her.

Jade pointed at the harp. "That's how he got through."

Ron was, if possible, even whiter than he had been before. "And how in the world are we supposed to get through?"

Jade took a deep breath. "I'll handle it."

She started singing something she'd written about a year ago, when she'd started writing a language of her own just for fun. At first, her voice quavered with fear, but then it was strong, as she knew that everyone was counting on her. Once she got past the first line, the rest was automatic, as it had been when she'd sang it so many times when she was alone, singing first her own language, then the translation.

_"Tay kar logoth jai ra_

_Tay kar logoth jai ra_

_Kaia logoth…_

_Kaia logoth…_

_I am waiting for you_

_I am waiting for you_

_Always waiting…_

_Always waiting…"_

The tune was haunting and pretty, but rather sad. When she was just starting the part in English, the dog slumped to the ground, pretty much dead to the world.

As she kept singing the song, Jade headed over to the trapdoor, and the other three followed behind her. At a gesture from her, Ron opened it, then Solluna, obviously grateful to be away from the three-headed dog, jumped into the darkness first.

_The landing is soft, Jade._

Taking a quick breath so she could continue singing, Jade nodded to Ron and Hermione to let them know it was okay. Ron jumped in first, then Hermione. Glad to be able to stop singing, Jade jumped in. Cold, damp air rushed past her as she fell down some distance, and then FLUMP! She landed between Ron and Solluna.

It was only a moment before Jade felt the plant's vines tightening around her. "Oh, bloody hell."

Solluna was the most tangled in the plant, and she was snarling viciously, cutting at the vines with her dagger. Each time one was cut, though, two replaced it before she could get loose.

Ron cursed fluently as he struggled to get loose of the vines.

Hermione, who had landed a little nearer the edge of the plant, managed to free herself. Meanwhile, when Jade found she couldn't reach her wand, she simply stopped moving. She'd figured out what this was.

"Hermione, I know that this is… it's…"

Hermione nodded. "I know, it's Devil's Snare. Ron, Solluna, stop moving! The more you struggle, the tighter it'll get!"

Jade thought for a moment, trying to fight back panic and the urge to struggle as she could feel her breath becoming short, the vines tightening painfully around her. "Hermione, I can't reach my wand… We need fire."

"But there's no wood!" Hermione wrung her hands, looking frantic.

"HAVE YOU GONE MAD?" Ron bellowed. "ARE YOU A WITCH OR NOT?"

"USE YOUR BLOODY WAND!" Jade couldn't help but feel…slightly… irritated at the situation.

"Right!" Hermione whipped out her wand and, as she muttered something, a jet of bluebell flames shot at the plant. It worked, and, as the plant unraveled itself, the three captives were able to free themselves.

"This way," Jade said, leading the way down a stone passageway that was the only way to go.

The only noise was that of their footsteps and the gentle drip of water trickling down the stone walls.

_Can you hear that? _Solluna asked Jade. _It sounds rather like… birds._

Jade could hear it. "I wonder what that sound is, guys. Maybe owls?"

Hermione shrugged. "I don't know… owls under the school?"

They reached the end of the tunnel and came to a brilliantly lit chamber, its ceiling arching high above them. It was full of small, jewel-bright birds, fluttering and tumbling all around the room. On the opposite side was a heavy wooden door.

"I wonder… do you think they'll attack us if we cross the room?" Ron asked.

_Those are not birds, Jade. Birds are good to eat. Those would not be good to eat at all… I do not have a taste for metal._

"Metal?" Jade said quietly, squinting up at the winged things. "OH!" She looked at her friends. "They won't attack us. I'm willing to bet that door is locked."

"Why do you say that?" Hermione asked.

Jade smiled and pointed up at the fluttering things. "Because those, my friends, are keys."

They saw broomsticks. "But there are hundreds of keys!" Hermione practically wailed. "How are we to find the right one in time! By the time we find it, Snape will already be back out here, the Sorcerer's Stone in his hand!"

Ron, who had wandered over to the wooden door, spoke up. "We're looking for a big, old-fashioned one. Probably silver, like the handle.

Jade, Hermione, and Ron each grabbed a broomstick. Meanwhile, Solluna eyed one, and gave a twitch of her tail. _I think I shall just wait for you three down here, _she said.

As the others darted around, desperately grabbing at different keys, Jade simply hovered in placed, staring about her in concentration. Suddenly, Jade spotted her target, a large silver key with bright blue wings, one of them bent as though it had already been grabbed and roughly stuffed into the keyhole.

Without even pausing, Jade darted towards it. After a few desperate maneuvers on her broom, she was getting frustrated at not being able to catch it. The key dived towards the ground in an attempt to get away from her, and Jade dived after it.

At the last moment, though, there was a dark blur and Jade pulled up abruptly. She let out a loud chuckle.

Solluna, in her werecat form, stood there, holding the struggling key in her mouth, distaste apparent on her face. She's leapt up seven straight feet in the air to catch the key, an amazing feat.

After all three friends had landed, Jade went over and thanked Solluna, taking the key from her. The werecat nodded and changed back to her humanoid form. She looked a bit smug at having been able to catch the key.

Jade ran to the door and unlocked it with the struggling key, then she pulled the door open. There was no time to lose.

The next room's challenge was life-sized wizarding chess. They all took the places of certain pieces, and it was Ron that directed them through the game, since he was obviously best at it. Several times, he saved Jade, Hermione, and Solluna when they were in danger.

After a while, Ron muttered, "We're nearly there. Let me think – let me think . . ."

The white queen turned her creepily blank face towards the red-haired boy.

"Yes . . ." Said Ron softly. "It's the only way . . . I've got to be taken."

"NO!" Jade and Hermione shouted.

"That's chess!" Ron snapped. It was obvious that he didn't like this any more than they did. "You've got to make some sacrifices! I take one step forward and she'll take me – that leaves you free to checkmate the king, Jade!"

Miserably, Jade nodded. "You're right. I hate it, but you're right."

"Ready?" Ron called, his face pale but determined. "Here I go – now, don't hang around once you've won."

He stepped forward, and the white queen pounced. Jade wanted to turn away, but didn't; Ron was doing this to help her. The white queen struck Ron across the head with her stone arm, and as he crashed to the floor Jade and Solluna both flinched and Hermione let out a scream. The white queen dragged Ron to one side… he looked as if he'd been knocked out.

Trembling, Jade moved three places to the left.

The white king took off his crown and threw it at Jade's feet. They had won. The chessmen parted and bowed, leaving the door clear. Jade ran quickly to Ron and kneeled by his prone form to check if he was okay. Her eyes teared up slightly as she saw the large lump rising on his head.

She looked up at Solluna, her eyes pleading. _Solluna, I know that you will hate me for asking this of you… I know you don't want to have to worry about me… but please…_

Solluna looked disgruntled. _Alright. You know that I do not like doing this, Jade, but I will stay behind with him. Just…_

_What? _Jade asked.

_Just remember what I told you when we met._

Jade and Hermione went on ahead, leaving Solluna kneeling beside Ron.

Jade looked at Hermione. "All that's left is Quirrell's and Snape's."

When they reached another door, they opened it quickly instead of prolonging the moment. They found a disgusting-smelling troll even larger than the one they'd seen before, knocked out with a bloody lump on its head.

Holding their breath, disgusted, both girls made their ways past it and through the next door. When they entered, black fire shot up in the doorway they'd come from and the doorway ahead, blocking both exits.

This room had a table with seven differently shaped bottles all standing in a line. Next to them was a paper with a riddle on it.

Reading it, both girls let out slight chuckles.

"This is brilliant," Jade said, smiling in relief at the ease of this last thing.

Hermione nodded. "Simple logic. Most wizards don't even have that."

Working together, they were quickly able to figure out which bottle was which.

Jade looked at the tiny bottle that they'd figured out would let them ahead. "There's only enough there for one of us. Hermione, you have to drink the one to go back… I'll go on alone."

Hermione gasped. "But… but, Jade, you can't face Snape alone! What if you-know-who's with him?"

Jade felt herself trembling inside, and fought back the urge to cry. She was terrified, but this… this was what she had to do…

"Hermione, I can't explain it…" She said. "But I have to do this. When it gets right down to it, I don't have a choice. Just…" She hugged Hermione, hoping this wasn't the last time she'd see her. "…Trust me."

And with that, before Hermione could protest, Jade had grabbed the small bottle, gulped down its contents, and dashed through the black flames.

There was already someone there, on the other side.

Jade wasn't the least bit surprised.

**QS: Oh, man, I'm a way-too-emotional person. Just last night, I watch the season finale of season five of Buffy again, where she dies to save Dawn and the world, and, as I wrote this, the sad background music was playing in my had. Seriously, I'm on the verge of tears!**

**By the way, if any of you happen to read Christopher Paolini's books where Solluna was inspired from, I wanted to say… the type of werecat she is was inspired by Solembum, but that's all. What I'm saying is the species of werecat in my story is different from the species in those books, with different powers, etc.**


	16. C16: Be True to Yourself

**Title: Jade Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone**

_**Author: Queen Serenity**_

_**Fandom: Harry Potter**_

_**Chapter: Sixteen – Be True To Yourself**_

As Jade sauntered into the room, she smirked at Quirrell, betraying nothing but curiosity and confidence. "With Dumbledore gone, I knew you'd be here."

It was Quirrell, alright. Only it wasn't the nervous, twitching Quirrell that everyone always saw… this was a Quirrell who was sure of himself, who was cunning and devious, not a pinch of nervousness about him.

Quirrell smiled. "I was wondering whether you'd be here, Potter… How did you know it was me?"

Jade shrugged nonchalantly. "I just put the puzzle together. First of all, a certain friend gave me a warning before I even came to this school… _Beware the professor who is not as it seems._"

Quirrell narrowed his eyes. "One would think that it would be Severus that you would suspect."

Jade shook her head. "That's what my friends thought. But, honestly, I had no real reason to suspect Snape… "

Quirrell sneered. "You seem so sure. Trust me, dear girl, there are things about Snape that if you knew them, you would never be able to see him as anything but a monster."

Jade shrugged. "Bad people often give me bad feelings. He gave me none. From the first time I saw you, I didn't like you. Another reason is because I saw your little jinx at the Quidditch game… most likely you assumed that because it was Snape's gift you did it to, then I would assume it was him that did it if I survived. But no, I know he was trying to save me. There was the troll, which you seemed to be afraid of… I knew that they were about the only thing that you are good at taking out, so I knew that the fear had to be false. There were many other pieces to the puzzle I saw… and they led me to a conclusion."

"Oh?"

"You're serving Voldemort and helping him to attempt to return to power."

Quirrell's eyes narrowed and he smirked evilly. "You are clever and very perceptive, Potter. I almost find it to be a pity that I'm going to kill you shortly."

Quirrell snapped his fingers, and ropes sprang out of thin air to wrap themselves tightly around Jade.

"Now wait quietly, Potter. I need to examine this interesting mirror."

Jade saw that behind Quirrell was the Mirror of Erised.

"This mirror is the key to getting the stone," he muttered, tapping his way around the frame. "Trust Dumbledore to come up with something like this . . . But he's in London . . . I'll be far away by the time he gets back."

She knew she should be terrified, but, for some reason, it was as though Jade was numb to her fear… all she felt was something like something powerful running through her veins, steeling her resolve, making her feel bigger, stronger, and older than she was. The image she'd seen in the mirror of the Jade-but-not-Jade flashed in her mind. It was like she was her. Like the not-Jade, she smirked. "Keep telling yourself that, Quirrell. He'll be back before you know it, and then where will you run? Where will you hide, Quirrell?"

"Quiet!" Quirrell growled. He came back out from behind the mirror and stared into it angrily. "I see the Stone . . . I'm presenting it to my master . . . but where is it?"

"Most likely where you can never get to it," Jade said nastily. "You didn't think Dumbledore would make it easy, did you? Honestly, if you're stupid enough to throw away your life to serve a fallen dark wizard, then there's no way you'd be able to solve this riddle."

Fury on his face, Quirrell left the mirror and strode over to her and spoke, his face inches from hers. "Foolish girl. Why keep up the pretenses of bravery when you know you are to die?"

With Quirrell so close, Jade could get a good whiff of that funky smell coming off of his turban. A quick pain shot through her scar, causing her to close her eyes in pain for a moment. When her eyes opened again, there was a trace of fear in them.

She knew. Oh, God, she knew what was under that stinky turban . . . She didn't know how it had got there, but . . .

"Your Dark Lord . . . he's here with you, isn't he?"

At this, Quirrell looked like the nervous Quirrell for a moment again. "My master is with me wherever I go," he said quietly. "I met him when I traveled around the world. A foolish young man I was then, full of ridiculous ideas about good and evil. Lord Voldemort showed me how wrong I was. There is no good and evil, there is only power, and those too weak to seek it . . . Since then, I have served him faithfully, although I have let him down many times. He has had to be very hard on me." He shivered suddenly. "He does not forgive mistakes easily. When I failed to steal the stone from Gringotts, he was most displeased. He punished me . . . decided he would have to keep a closer watch on me . . ."

_Jade! What is going on? Are you alright? _Solluna's worried voice sounded in her mind.

Jade watched Quirrell return to further examine the mirror. …_For now. Solluna, I know you don't talk to people, but if I don't make it out of here, do me a favor please and tell my friends goodbye and my family that I love them._

_Jade, what are you talking about?! Why do you think you might not make it? I cannot shadow-dive to help you, I have to have been to my destination, and I have never been in there._

_. . . It is alright, Solluna . . . I wouldn't want you in here, anyway. . . he's here._

Quirrell's voice sounded out, cursing under his breath, distracting Jade from what Solluna said next. "I don't understand . . . is the Stone _inside _the mirror? Should I break it?"

Jade closed her eyes, concentrating. _What I desire most right now is to find the Stone before Quirrell does, so that I might prevent it from getting to Voldemort. So if I look in the mirror, I'll see myself finding it, and see where it's hidden!_

"What does this mirror do? How does it work? Help me, Master!" Quirrell sounded pleading.

And then Jade heard _his _voice, coming from the turban. "Use the girl . . . Use the girl . . ."

Quirrell turned to look at Jade.

"Yes, Potter, come here." He clapped his hands, and the ropes binding Jade fell off.

"Come here," Quirrell repeated. "Look in this mirror and tell me what you see."

Jade's first instinct was to rebel, to say 'or what', since he had already told her she was to die. However, she knew she had to get the Stone, so . . .

She walked, holding her head high and showing no fear, over to stand in front of the Mirror of Erised. She closed her eyes, thinking . . .

…_Beware the professor who is not as it seems…_

Quirrell, not the nervous, twitching coward he seemed.

…_Beware the weakened but hidden being…_

Voldemort, weakened and hidden beneath Quirrell's turban.

…_With true friends by your side, you'll have nothing to fear…_

Her friends all helping her. Ron, Hermione, and Solluna.

…_If you're true to your nature when in front of the mirror…_

She opened her eyes, focusing her eyes on her reflection.

The same her she saw before stared back at her, the one whose strength she could feel in her even now. The reflection smirked, and pulled a blood-red stone out of its pocket. It winked and put the stone back in its pocket . . . and when it did so, Jade felt the weight of something drop into her real pocket.

She had the Stone.

"Well?" said Quirrell impatiently. "What do you see?"

Jade schooled her features into a look of shock, hoping she looked believable. "I . . . I see my mum and dad. They're smiling, and crying, and waving at me." She looked around left and right quickly, as if looking for them. "Where are they? It looks like they're behind me . . ."

Qurrell cursed again. "Get out of the way!" As Jade moved aside, she felt the Sorcerer's Stone against her leg. Should she try to get away? Was there any chance that she would make it?

No way. But maybe . . .

She moved a few of steps behind Quirrell and reached for her wand . . .

Her hand froze, though, when she heard the voice again.

"She lies . . . She lies . . ."

"Potter, come back here!" Quirrell shouted. "Tell me the truth! What did you just see?"

The voice spoke again, a sibilant whisper that dragged out the s sounds. "Let me speak with her . . . face-to-face . . ."

"Master, you are not strong enough!"

"I have strength enough . . . for this . . ."

Jade felt as though she'd been turned to stone. She couldn't move, couldn't breathe, couldn't do anything because of the fear thrumming through her veins as she watched Quirrell reach up and begin to unwrap his turban.

Then he turned.

On the back of Quirrell's head was the most terrible face Jade had ever seen, chalk white with glaring red eyes and slits for a nose, like a snake.

"Jade Potter . . ." it whispered, its voice clearer now.

Somehow, Jade found her breath, but when she spoke, it was barely even a whisper. ". . . Voldemort . . ." She tried to reach for her wand, but her arm wouldn't cooperate.

"See what I have become?" the face said. "Mere shadow and vapor . . . I have form only when I can share another's body . . . but there have always been those willing to let me into their hearts and minds . . . Unicorn blood has strengthened me, these past weeks . . . you saw faithful Quirrell drinking it for me in the forest . . . and once I have the Elixir of Life, I will be able to create a body of my own . . . Now . . . why don't you give me that Stone in your pocket?"

_Oh, bloody hell. _Suddenly, Jade could move again. She stumbled backward. She couldn't let him get the Stone, she couldn't let him return to power! She'd read about the things he'd done, and she wasn't about to let them happen again.

"Don't be a fool," snarled the face. "Better save your own life and join me . . . or you'll meet the same end as your parents . . . They died begging me for mercy . . ."

Suddenly, Jade felt a sort of inner calm. It was as though she was watching the situation from another point of view, and none of this was affecting her. "I'm not being a fool," she said calmly. "I'd be a fool to believe you . . . and I'd be a fool to join you. I mean, look at you," she smirked. "Have you looked in the mirror lately?"

Quirrell was walking backwards towards her now. Voldemort was now smiling, ignoring her scathing words. "How touching . . ." it hissed. "I always value bravery . . . Yes, girl, your parents were brave . . . I killed your father first, and he put up a courageous fight . . . but your mother needn't have died . . . she was trying to protect you . . . Now, give me the Stone, unless you want her to have died in vain."

Jade smiled. "Actually . . . I do have something to give you . . ." She flipped him the middle finger. "FUCK YOU, ASSHOLE!"

She dashed towards the flame door.

"SEIZE HER!" Voldemort screamed in fury, and in the next second, Jade felt Quirrell's hand close on her wrist. Before she knew it, a needle-sharp pain seared across Jade's scar; her head felt as though it was about to split in two, and she almost wished it would, if it would make the pain stop; she shrieked, struggling with all her might, and was surprised when Quirrell let go of her. She whirled wildly to see where Quirrell had gone and saw him hunched on the floor, looking at his fingers, which were blistering right before his eyes.

"Seize her! SEIZE HER!" shrieked Voldemort again, and Quirrell lunged, knocking Jade off her feet, landing on top of her, both hands around Jade's neck – Jade's scar was almost blinding her with the pain, and yet she could see and hear Quirrell howling in agony.

"Master, I cannot hold her – my hands – my hands!"

And Quirrell, though pinning Jade to the ground with his knees, let go of her neck and stared, bewildered, at his own palms – Jade could see that they looked burned, raw, red, and shiny.

"Then kill her, fool, and be done!" screeched Voldemort.

Quirrell raised his wand to perform the deadly curse, most likely the same one which Voldemort had tried to kill her with so many years ago, but Jade, by instinct, reached up and grabbed Quirrell's face.

"AAAARGH!"

Quirrell rolled off her, his face blistering, too, and then Jade knew; Quirrell couldn't touch her bare skin, not without suffering terrible pain – her only chance was to use this to her advantage, causing Quirrell enough pain to prevent him from cursing her.

Jade jumped to her feet, and caught Quirrell by the arm, hanging on with all her might, and with her other hand she grasped for his eyes. Quirrell screamed and screamed and tried to throw Jade off – the pain in Jade's head was building – she could see naught but red agony – she could only hear Quirrell's deafening shrieks, and Voldemort's yells of "KILL HER! KILL HER!" and other voices, one in Jade's mind, crying out her name over and over.

She felt Quirrell leave her grasp, and knew all was lost as she fell down into the dark abyss calling to her . . . down . . .

Something golden was glittering above Jade. Her Snitch! She tried to catch it, but her arms wouldn't cooperate; they were simply too heavy.

She blinked in confusion. It wasn't her Snitch at all, it was a pair of glasses. How strange.

She blinked again. The smiling face of Albus Dumbledore swam into view above her.

"Good afternoon, Jade," he said, his eyes twinkling.

Jade stared at him, not speaking for a moment as she collected her thoughts. "Does he have the Stone?" she asked quietly. She looked left and right and saw that she was in the hospital wing, a table next to her piled high with tons and tons of candy and what looked like get-well cards.

"He doesn't, thanks to you, Jade. I'll explain what happened," he gestured at the candy, and changed the subject. "Tokens from your friends and admirers," said Dumbledore, beaming at her. "What happened in the dungeons between you and Professor Quirrell is a complete secret, so, naturally, the whole school knows. I believe your friends Misters Fred and George Weasley were responsible for trying to send you a toilet seat. No doubt they thought it would amuse you. Madam Pomfrey, however, felt it might not be very hygienic, and confiscated it."

"How long have I been in here?"

"Three days. Mr. Ronald Weasley, Miss Turpin, and Miss Granger will be most relieved you have come round, they have been extremely worried. As has Mr. Malfoy, who has tried repeatedly to get in here to see you . . . as I recall, he said to Madam Pomfrey, 'Do you have any idea who my father is? If you don't let me through, it could cost you your job.'"

_It is true. Professor Snape ended up dragging him off._

Surprised, Jade looked down to beside her bed to see Solluna staring at her. _I was worried, Jade._

Jade smiled gently at the werecat. _I apologize for worrying you and trying to save the world, my friend. _There was humor in the thought.

Dumbledore smiled as he looked at the werecat. "Madam Pomfrey had a fit about your companion here. At first, she refused to let her in, but, every time she threw her out, Solluna kept using her shadow-diving to get back in. She finally had to give up."

"And the Stone?"

"I see you are not to be distracted. Very well, the Stone. As I said, Professor Quirrell did not manage to take it from you. I arrived in time to prevent that, although you were doing very well on your own, I must say."

"You got Lisa's owl?"

"We must have crossed in midair. No sooner had I reached London that it became clear to me that the place I should be was the one I just left. I arrived in time to pull Quirrell off of you–"

"It was _you_."

"I feared I might be too late."

"You nearly were. I'm sorry, Sir, but I couldn't have kept him off the Stone much longer–"

"Not the Stone, dear girl, you – the effort involved nearly killed you. For one terrible moment there, I was afraid it had. As for the Stone, it has been destroyed."

"Destroyed?" Jade was startled. "But… what about Nicolas Flamel and his wife?"

"Oh, you know about Nicolas?" asked Dumbledore, sounding quite delighted. "You truly are your mother's daughter, so thorough in your research. Well, Nicolas and I have had a little chat, and agreed it's all for the best."

"But that means he and his wife will die, won't they?"

"They have enough Elixir stored to set their affairs in order and then, yes, they will die." Dumbledore smiled at the look of amazement of Jade's face. "To one as young as you, I'm sure it seems incredible, but to Nicolas and Perenelle, it really is like going to bed after a very, _very _long day. After all, to the well-organized mind, death is but the next great adventure. You know, the Stone was not really such a wonderful thing. As much money and life as you could want! The two things most human beings would choose above all – the trouble is, most humans do have a knack of choosing precisely those things that are worst for them."

Jade lay there, absorbing Dumbledore's words. She supposed that he was right; many people could see death that way.

"Sir?" Jade asked quietly. "He's not gone for good, is he? Voldemort."

"No, Jade he has not. He is still out there somewhere, perhaps looking for another body to share . . . not being truly alive, he cannot be killed. He left Quirrell to die; he shows just as little mercy to his followers as his enemies. Nevertheless, Jade, while you may only have delayed his return to power, it will merely take someone else who is prepared to fight what seems to be a losing battle next time – and if he is delayed again, and again, why, he may never return to power."

Jade started to nod, but stopped because of the pain it caused in her head. "Sir, there some things I want to know about . . . things I want to hear the truth about, if you would . . ."

"The truth." Dumbledore sighed. "It is a beautiful and terrible thing, and should therefore be treated with great caution. However, I shall answer your questions unless I have a very good reason not to, in which case I beg you'll forgive me. I shall not, of course, lie."

"The first thing is this. Voldemort told me that he only killed my mother because she tried to protect me from him . . . But why was he trying to kill me in the first place? Is there something more to me that I don't know?"

Dumbledore sighed very deeply this time. "Alas, the first thing you ask me, I cannot tell you. Not today. Not now. You will know, one day . . . put it from your mind for now, Jade. When you are older . . . I know you hate to hear this . . . when you are ready, you will know."

Jade knew it would be no good to argue . . . but, for some reason, those words struck an ominous feeling deep within her. What was there that she didn't know? She asked her next question. "Fair enough. But why couldn't Quirrell touch me?"

"Your mother died to save you. If there is one thing Voldemort cannot understand, it is love. He didn't realize that love as powerful as your mother's for you leaves its own mark. Not a scar, no visible sign . . . to have been loved so deeply, even though the person who loved us is gone, will give us some protection forever. It is in your very skin. Quirrell, full of hatred, greed, and ambition, sharing his soul with Voldemort, could not touch you for this reason. It was agony to touch a person marked by something so good."

Jade's eyes teared up as she thought of the sacrifice her mother had made for her . . . when she had found her voice again, she spoke. "The invisibility cloak . . . you sent it, didn't you, Professor?"

Dumbledore nodded. "How did you know?"

Jade shot him a weak grin. "Your handwriting. I thought it looked familiar, and I still had the letter from you after I received my Hogwarts acceptance letter. Same handwriting."

Dumbledore's eyes twinkled. "You father happened to leave it in my possession, and I thought you might like it. Useful things . . . your father mainly used it for sneaking off to the kitchens to steal food when he was here."

Jade giggled slightly at this. Actually, that wouldn't be a bad idea . . . "I have another question . . ."

"Fire away."

"Quirrell said that there were things about Professor Snape that, if I knew them, I would think of him as a monster. He seemed to think I shouldn't trust Professor Snape. Do you know what he meant?"

Dumbledore's face was grave. "There are many secrets which the Potions professor has, but they are his to keep and his to tell. However, I can tell you one thing . . ."

"Yes?"

"If you looked like your father, and acted more like him, then Professor Snape would most likely have acted rather . . . bitter towards you. Luckily, though, traces of your father are barely visible in you . . . you are more your mother, but, most of all, you are your own person. You are Jade."

"Why would Professor Snape have acted like that to me if I was like my father?"

"Because then it would have been like being around your father all over again. Severus and your father, James, detested each other. They were rivals in school, rather like yourself and Miss Parkinson. And then, your father did something Snape could never forgive."

"What's that?"

"He saved his life."

Jade narrowed her eyes, thinking. "He hated him for that . . . because it hurt his pride. Being saved is bad enough, but being saved by your enemy? Total humiliation in owing someone you hate a debt like that."

Dumbledore nodded. "And it was a debt he could never repay, since James died. However, I would daresay he may feel he has repaid it at least in part, if nothing else, since he saved you."

"I have just one last question."

"Just the one?"

"How did I get the Stone out of the mirror?"

"Ah, now, I'm glad you asked me that. It was one of my more brilliant ideas, and between you and me, that's saying something. You see, only one who wants to _find _the Stone – find it, but not use it – would be able to get it, otherwise, they'd just see themselves making gold or drinking Elixir of Life. My brain surprises even me sometimes . . . Now, enough questions. I suggest you make a start on these sweets. Ah! Bertie Bott's Every Flavor Beans! I was unfortunate enough in my youth to come across a vomit-flavored one, and since then I'm afraid I've rather lost my liking for them – but I think I'll be safe with a nice toffee, don't you?"

He smiled and popped the golden-brown bean into his mouth. Then he choked. "Alas! Ear wax!"

Jade giggled and asked him to pass her one of the blood-flavored lollipops.

As she sucked on it, Dumbledore chuckled. "I must say, you have rather unusual tastes, my dear girl."

Madam Pomfrey, the nurse, was a nice woman, but very strict.

"Just five minutes," Jade pleaded.

"Absolutely not."

Jade frowned. "I don't mean to be rude, Madam Pomfrey, but if you don't let my friends in here to see me, then I'll march out there to see them, and since you don't want me getting up, I don't think it'd be wise. I can't rest if I know my friends are wanting to see me." She gave her best innocent puppy-dog-eyes look that most adults melted instantly for. "Please, Madam Pomfrey? Look, I'm resting like you want, lying down and everything. Come on . . ."

No adult could stand up to The Look. "Oh, very well," Madam Pomfrey said. "But just five minutes."

Hermione, Ron, and Lisa all came in. They chattered about how they had been so worried, and asked her what really happened.

So she told them.

When Jade got to the part where she had basically given the fallen Dark Lord the finger, all three gasped in shock.

Ron was white. "You have got to be kidding!"

Lisa was next. "You're telling us you gave He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named the BIRD!"

Then Hermione. "Blimey, Jade, you're absolutely mad!"

Jade shrugged, blushing. She then proceeded to tell them about how the Stone was gone now, and how Nicolas and his wife would die and stuff, and what Dumbledore had said.

Then they told Jade what had happened to them while she confronted Quirrell, and how Dumbledore knew as soon as he arrived that Jade had went after Quirrell.

Jade reflected quietly on how she thought Dumbledore knew a lot more that was going on then he let on, but didn't mention this to her friends. She smirked. "See, I tried to tell you guys so many times that the one after the Stone wasn't Snape. It wasn't until the end that I figured out that it was Quirrell, but by then I figured you guys wouldn't have believed me."

"Yeah," Hermione admitted. "You're probably right."

"I still say he's an evil git, though," Ron said. "Anyway, you've got to be up for the end-of-year feast tomorrow. The points are all in and Slytherin won, of course. By the way, your house's team steamrollered mine in the last Quidditch match. Still, the food'll be good."

At that moment, Madam Pomfrey bustled over and ushered them out, saying they'd been there long enough.

The next day, Jade felt nearly herself once more.

To Madam Pomfrey's disapproval, she was to be allowed to attend the end-of-year feast.

When she first awoke, she found herself with a visitor. Professor Snape leaned against the wall opposite her bed, obviously having been waiting for her to wake up.

The look he was giving her was one of disapproval. "I see you're almost better, Miss Potter."

Jade nodded. "Yes, sir. I'm going to the feast today."

Now the look was what could appropriately be called a glaring look of death. "Tell me, Miss Potter, what on earth compelled you to go after Quirrell yourself? Honestly, rushing into things without thinking? That's what James Potter would have done. I had thought you were more intelligent than that."

Jade looked him in the eyes from where she lay on the bed. "I _was _thinking. I was thinking of how adults often don't believe children until it's too late. I was thinking of how if Voldemort (Snape flinched slightly here) returned to power, then there would be another war. I was thinking of how, if I could just hold him off long enough for Dumbledore to arrive and stop him, it didn't matter if I died. It wasn't really my choice, when it came right down to it . . . this was a battle I had to fight, so to speak."

Snape sighed. "Foolish girl. Of course it would matter if you died. Your dear mother died to save you . . . Did you want her sacrifice to be for naught?"

Jade swallowed the lump in her throat and broke the stare, staring down at her hands. "I'm not saying I liked doing it. I'm just saying that I had to do it."

Even as she stared at her hands, Jade could feel Snape's dark eyes on her as he spoke. "Right there, you sounded much like your mother. Just remember, Miss Potter, that it is always your choice. Always."

Then there was the sound of robes swishing, and he left.

Later, as she was about to leave the Infirmary, Madam Pomfrey told her she had another visitor. It turned out to be Hagrid.

The big man blamed himself for Jade almost dying, and it took much convincing that it wasn't his fault.

"Yeh could've died!" he sobbed. "An' don' say the name!"

"VOLDEMORT! Voldemort, Voldemort, VOLDEMORT! I've met him, face-to-face, and I've even given him the finger. I'm calling him by his name."

She continued to try to get the big man to cheer up. He ended up giving her a present, one she greatly appreciated. It was a book of photos with tons of wizard pictures of her parents.

Jade smiled and thanked Hagrid for it. It was a wonderful gift she would treasure forever.

At the feast, things didn't turn out quite as planned.

Dumbledore awarded Ron fifty points for the best played chess game Hogwarts had seen in many years.

He awarded Hermione fifty points for cool logic in a crisis.

He awarded Lisa twenty points for having the courage to get help when her friends needed it.

And lastly, he awarded Jade sixty points for what she had done.

The house of Hufflepuff was disappointed about being in last place again, but they still cheered because no house other than Gryffindor or Slytherin had won in years.

Ravenclaw was cheering and whistling, completely thrilled at having won.

Gryffindors were even cheering for the Ravenclaws . . . they personally weren't in last place anymore, and at least those nasty Slytherins hadn't won.

And as for Slytherin . . . a few of them, including Pansy and her friend Millicent, looked miserable at having lost, but most of them were just happy that the stupid Gryffindors hadn't beat them.

It was the best evening of Jade's life.

The results from the exams came back, and there was a great surprise . . . for the first time in many years, there was a tie. Hermione and Jade had tied for top of their year, Jade doing perfectly in Potions and Hermione doing perfectly in Charms.

The day it was time to go home, Jade made a trip down to the Infirmary and pleaded with Madam Pomfrey until she got the toilet seat that the Matron had confiscated, promising she wouldn't bring it back, but wanted to keep it because it was a gift.

On the way home on the train, Malfoy got Jade to come out of her car and talk with him.

"Are you alright?" he asked. "I tried to see you at the Infirmary, but that bloody woman wouldn't let me in."

Jade nodded. "I'm fine."

"Is it true about who was there?"

Again, she nodded. Draco looked thoughtful at this, and asked Jade what had happened. When he heard what she had 'given' Voldemort, his jaw dropped in shock.

Grinning, Jade hugged him. "Listen, don't forget about your promise. Don't forget to write me. Talk to you later."

Leaving Draco, jaw still dropped, she headed back to her car.

Ron asked Jade to come visit him over the summer sometime, and she agreed with a chuckle.

Pansy tried to come by once to harass Jade, but had left quickly after she'd seen Solluna.

And then they were home.

And Jade was back with her family, wondering what the summer ahead would hold for her.

**READ THIS AUTHOR'S NOTE PLEASE!**

**Queen Serenity: Well, that's the end of the first story. **

**Now that the first story's done, I have some requests to make of you guys. One thing is this: I'd love to know your favorite, or least favorite parts. Like, for example, my two fave parts are Jade hiding behind Snape, and also when she 'gave' Voldemort something.**

**By the way, I put up a new HP story, Brides of Voldemort, and I'd appreciate if y'all would read it.**

**And now… I have a sort of commercial I put together for the original story I'm writing, Romancing the Darkness. It can be located under my Name, Queen Serenity, at Fictionpress dot com. I really need detailed reviews to it, since I hope it someday to be published. You know, specific reactions to specific things that you do and don't like.**

**Anyway, on to the commercial…**

**there is darkness. In the darkness, you hear a voice…**

**"Our greatest celebration is approaching… it is time to pick our chosen ones from throughout time to become the new brood…"**

**There is a flash, and you see the source of the voice, an ancient black dragon whose eyes seem almost to be glowing. The screen goes flashes, and the scene switches to two girls sitting at a table, talking**

**"My philosophy is simple. It has only two words: reality sucks."**

**"Why do you say that?"**

**"Why? I guess it's because reality has so many . . .," Jasmine gestured with her hands desperately, trying to think of a word that would describe what she meant, ". . . limitations. It's so cruel, Hannah."**

**The scene switches again to darkness. There is a flash of lightning, and you see an owl far away, flying through the pouring rain in your direction. Another flash, and it's closer. Next flash, it's right up in your face.**

**The scene is dark again, and you hear two voices, the first female, the second male.**

**"What in Hell do you want?"**

**"Not in Hell, but in this time and place…"**

**"Huh?"**

**"You."**

**Now, on the dark screen, a pair of eyes appear, a male pair on top of the screen. One blue eye, one green. On the bottom, a female-looking pair of blue-green eyes appear. And, lastly, appearing between the two eyes, appears the title…**

**Romancing the Darkness**


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